From the Inside Out
by Terrible Temptation
Summary: UPDATED UPDATED UPDATED! Kana Iokuzo had no idea what she was in for when she befriended the Tantei. Apparently she has something to do with their newest mission – but what could they possibly need from a human girl? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_Rei says: _Hello everyone! This is my first story on fanfiction...it may not start out good, but it's getting better, don't worry. Please, no flames, but I love reviews. They make me happy. So yeah. There's not much to say about this. It's the first chapter, I'm just introducing the story. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 1**

_Riiiing….Riiiing…._

What the hell was that?

_Riiing….Riiing…_

The alarm clock…

_Riiing…Riiiing…_

A girl turned over in her sleep, muttering incoherently.

_Riiing….Riiing…_

The girl's eyes snapped open as she tried to grab the clock and throw it across the room. "Argh! I'm awake! I'm AWAKE!" Instead, she ended up on the floor, bed sheets tangled around her in a comfortable mess. Her black hair was in a complete disarray, her yellow eyes unfocused and sleepy.

_Riiing…Riiing…_

"KANA! TURN THAT THING OFF!" A male voice shouted from the other room. The girl, Kana, got to her senses and stumbled to where the alarm clock was. She slammed her fist on the snooze button, still half-asleep. As she tried to untangle herself from her blankets, her brother appeared in the doorway. He was three years older than she, with dark purple hair and yellow eyes stood out against his pale skin, so much like her own. She smiled tiredly. Together, they've been through so much crap, it's hard to ever get mad at him. Kana groaned.

"Having fun?" Aki asked, leaning against the door frame, amused. Kana scrunched up her nose. "You know, you better hurry up and get ready."

"Ready…? For what?"

Aki rolled his eyes. "What's wrong with you? _Hello!_ You've got school today."

Kana pushed some strands of black hair behind her ears. "School?"

"Yes. School." He nodded his head slowly, making sure she got the point.

Kana cursed under her breath. "Oh. When does it start?"

He flicked his gaze over to the watch on his wrist. "In 10."

"10…what?"

"Minutes."

"10…minutes?"

"Yup."

"Oh…" she paused. "SHIT!" Kana stumbled to her feet as she hurried to her closet, throwing it open with such force that it slammed into the wall behind it. Aki laughed his head off, turning around and heading into the kitchen as she threw her school uniform on in such a hurry, cursing to herself for sleeping too late. She pushed past him as she gathered up her shoes and grabbed a Pop-Tart that sat on the counter.

"Hey! That was my Pop-Tart…" Aki protested. Kana shoved the Pop-Tart in her mouth and shrugged.

"Not anymore, it isn't." Kana said as she grabbed her bag, along with the sheet that explained her schedule and her locker number and ran out the door.

"You look nice." Aki said, smirking at the blue skirt and top the girls at this school had to wear.

"Akiiii, you know I don't like this thing..." Kana whined, managing to play-punch her brother in the arm before bolting out the door.

"I'm going to be at the shop today so don't bother coming home!" Aki called after her. Kana waved her hand in an answer as she took off down the road. "Have fun little sis!"

Kana arrived at the school just in time. There were still people hanging around in the hallways, so she figured she wasn't late. She sighed in relief and looked down at her schedule.

"What the…?" She stared down at her paper in disbelief. This wasn't her schedule…it was a damn advertisement, most likely from the mail Aki had gotten yesterday. Somehow she must have grabbed the advertisement instead of her schedule by mistake. "DAMMIT!" She yelled as she threw her paper down on the floor. People stopped and stared at her oddly as she jumped up and down on it angrily. "Ahh, now what?" She growled to herself.

"Excuse me…"

Kana turned and saw a boy, a year younger than she. "What is it?" She said a bitter edge in her voice.

"Do you need any help?" He asked. Kana looked at the boy for further inspection. He had a muscled build with scraggly dark brown hair and brown eyes. She had a bad feeling about him. Her eyes narrowed as he stepped closer. "I could…you know…help you." Kana pulled away, really REALLY disliking him.

"No. I don't need any help. Not from you, anyway." Kana said and stormed off, completely unaware of where she was going. He followed her.

"Where's your class?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

She could hear him following behind her. "Great! I'll come with."

Kana stopped and whirled around to face him. The guy's face was twisted into a mock-frown. She narrowed her eyes. "Get away from me."

He grinned. "Well, maybe I don't want to."

Kana's hands formed into fists. "You're really pissing me off."

"Oooh, I'm so scared." He said, putting his hands in the air. "What'cha gonna do, bitch-slap me to death?"

Kana lashed out with one fist, connecting nicely with the guy's cheek. He was sent flying backwards and landed with a thud on the hallway floor. "Have a nice day," she said as she walked away.

"That was nice," said a voice. Kana looked around and saw a boy with black hair and brown eyes in a green jumpsuit. "Ka-_pow_! Right outta there!" He grinned.

"Don't get used to it. I'm amazed I even hit the guy." She shook her head, a little dazed. "Who are you, anyways?" Kana asked.

"I'm Yusuke Urameshi." He said with a grin, putting his hands on his hips like a super-hero.

"Kana. Kana Iokuzo." She said. This kid was a little cocky, but she started to like him.

"Well, Kana, I don't think I've ever seen you before. You new here?" Kana nodded. "I feel sorry for ya. You just stepped into a prison." The bell rang and kids stumbled past each other to their classes. "See ya." He waved as he walked away.

"Where are you going?" Kana asked.

"Me? I'm going on the roof. To sleep." Yusuke yawned and grinned.

"Wait, Yusuke," she called after him. He turned and cocked his head. "Where's the main office?"

"Oh, there? Down the hall to the right. You can't miss it. I've been there a million times; I should know." Yusuke explained with a cocky grin.

"Troublemaker?" She raised an eyebrow.

He grinned, nodding. "You could say that."

Kana smiled. "All right…well. Thanks anyways."

"No problem-o. See you around."

Kana headed down the hallway to the main office, hoping that at least there they'd have a copy of her schedule.

"How may I help you?" A secretary greeted her as she walked in uncertainly.

Kana shifted her feet, a little awkward. "Uh, well…I lost my schedule."

"Oh, no problem. Your name, please?" The secretary-lady asked her.

Kana blinked. "Oh…um…Kana Iokuzo."

The secretary-lady clacked noisily on her computer. "Oh, are you new here?"

"Yeah."

She smiled and handed her a sheet of paper, along with a tinier slip. "There's your schedule, along with a late pass. Have a good day!" She smiled as Kana left the office.

_Good day…Yeah. _She thought. Already this day was screwed up. She sighed.

According to the newly-printed schedule, she had to go up the stairs to Science. She sighed and ascended a flight of stairs. She stood in front of the classroom door, pausing for only a moment before walking in.

"…so that's the rules of—" The teacher looked at the door, startled. "Oh, a student. Hello." Kana walked over and gave him the late pass. "Are you the new student here?" When Kana nodded, he clapped his hands three times and smiled. "Good, good." He cleared his throat. "Class, this is…." He looked at her for help with her name.

"Kana." She said, looking at the class.

"Kana, class, class, this is Kana." He introduced quickly. "She's new here, so please don't be hard on her." He turned to her. "I'm Mr. Kertai. Please, have a seat. You may take the empty one over there." He pointed to a lonely desk nearby the window in the back. When Kana was seated, he began the lesson again. Kana tried to pay attention, but the students in the classroom kept looking back at her as if she were some weird alien specimen. She ended up just blocking them out, watching the skies out the window.

The bell rang many minutes later, and Kana gratefully got up and walked out of the classroom. As she left, she heard Mr. Kertai say, "Have a good day!"

Kana headed down the hallway, hating the uniform she, along with every other girl, had to wear. It was a skirt! How long has it been since she wore a skirt? She groaned and looked at her schedule again. _Grrr._ This was going to be a long day.

To her surprise, somehow Kana made it to lunch. For some reason she kept getting weird stares. What was wrong with her? Was she that odd-looking or something? She sighed and purchased her lunch, looking around for a table to sit at. She spotted that guy in the green suit…Yusuke, his name was, wasn't it? As she approached, she saw he was sitting with another guy, with a blue suit and ugly orange lumpy hair. Yusuke looked up and smiled.

"Hey…Kana, right?" Yusuke said. As Kana nodded, he motioned to an empty seat right across from him. She sat down.

"Who's that, Urameshi?" The orange-haired one asked.

"Kuwabara, Kana. Kana, Kuwabara." Yusuke said. He swiveled his chair. "So, Kana. How do you like the school?"

"I don't know…everyone likes to stare a lot." Kana said. Yusuke laughed.

"Well, that's probably 'cause you're here with me." Yusuke said.

That was a weird answer. "Why?" Kana asked.

"'Cause I'm special, that's why!" Yusuke cried.

"Urameshi, you're not special." Kuwabara said as he ate some of his sandwich

"What could you possibly know about being special, Kuwabara?" Yusuke countered. Kana watched them both as they got into a fight about being 'special'. She cracked a smile and ate some pizza. Suddenly she noticed how all the kids at the lunch room were all carefully trying to avoid Yusuke and his table. Why was that? First the staring…

"Everyone thinks Urameshi is so scary. But then, it's probably 'cause he has to beat up everyone he sees." Kuwabara explained Kana's unsaid question.

"I'm so tough, everyone fears me." Yusuke said proudly. Kana snorted.

"What?" Yusuke said, looking at Kana.

"Nothing."

"Riiight, so, where'd you move in from?" Yusuke asked, stealing a potato chip from Kuwabara and stuffing it in his mouth.

"Ah, not far from here. Maybe about fifteen minutes away?" Kana said, looking up at him.

"Do you miss it?"

"No, not really. I'd rather not go back there anyways." Kana said, rubbing her temples.

"Oh…sorry." Yusuke took another one of Kuwabara's chips.

"No, it's all right." Kana said, shaking her head. She watched as Yusuke stuffed yet another chip into his mouth.

"IF YOU WANT THE CHIPS SO BAD, TAKE THE BAG!" Kuwabara cried as he thrust the bag in Yusuke's face.

"…What? Oh. No thanks." Yusuke said, blinking. Kana laughed. Kuwabara sighed and muttered angrily, putting the chips back onto his tray.

"Yusuke Urameshi." An adult voice said. Kana looked up and saw an old man with a suit.

"Ah, hey Mr. Principal. What's up?"

"You've been skipping classes again." He looked up to the ceiling, obviously tired of this routine.

"Yeah, so?"

"Come with me." The principal said, sighing. This guy must have been doing this for a long time, Kana realized.

"Maybe I don't want to." Yusuke said, taking another chip from Kuwabara.

"Yuuusukkkeeee…."

"All right, fine, fine, I'm going." Yusuke sighed and got up. He waved to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "See you guys later." Kana waved back as he walked off with Mr. Takanaka.

"Heh heh…Urameshi's in trouble again." Kuwabara said. Just then, the bell rang. Kana got up and looked at her schedule, seeing she had English next.

"See you Kuwabara. I got English." Kana said. Kuwabara nodded.

"Oh, hey." He turned, just remembering something. "After school I'm gonna get Urameshi and some friends to the arcade. Why don't you come with?" Kuwabara asked. Kana shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" Kana smiled.

Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all.

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_Reviewwww._


	2. Chapter 2

_Rei says: _Chapter 2! Dun dun dunnn!

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**Chapter 2**

The final bell rang and Kana bolted out the school entrance. Despite what Aki said, she was definitely going home and changing. T and the others wouldn't let her live it down if she showed up in a school uniform! And with a skirt, no less. She used the key to the apartment and unlocked the door, heading to her room to change. As she slipped into some jeans and a black band t-shirt, she thought about the day. Yusuke and Kuwabara were pretty nice. She should go meet them at the arcade after visiting Aki.

Kana shut the door behind her as she began heading down the sidewalk to The Heat, the music shop that Aki worked at. Before long, she was at the front door. She looked up at the store's name, which was black emblazoned with fire streaks running along the top. She opened the door and was greeted by a heavy metal music blasting at top volume. Looking around, she saw T, the store's owner, at the counter. He spotted her and waved.

"Yo, it's Yellow!" He said, using his nickname for her. She gave him a high-five.

"Nice hair," Kana commented, noting how his Mohawk changed from black to red.

"You like it? I dyed it just last night." He said; the chains on his oversized black pants jangled as he jumped over the counter. "Aki's over there," T pointed to the purple head sorting CDs in the corner.

"Thanks T!" Kana said and sneaked up quietly behind her older brother. She leaned over just enough to get close to his ear…

"HEY!" Kana yelled. Aki jumped sideways, cursing.

"What the hell--!" Aki looked at her and then let out a huge breath. "Jesus, Kana…"

Kana fell into a laughing fit. The customers, all black-clad emo/gothic kids, looked at her for a moment, and then turned away. They had better things to do than watch some girl be weird. She got up and grinned. "You should have seen your face…" she said, after calming down.

Aki rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. I'm just so amazing." He looked at her, realizing she wasn''t wearing her uniform. "Oh, you changed. I wanted T to see you in your cute little outfit…" Aki said.

"No kidding." She glared at him. "I hate that damn thing. Of course I changed."

"I know." Aki smiled.

"I can't stay and help out today. I'm going to the arcade place." Kana said, watching Aki put some CDs away.

"Oh? The arcade? With who?" Aki asked.

Kana shrugged. "Just some kids."

He looked at her funny. "Kids as in like, kids you met today?"

"Yup." She nodded.

"All right then. Have fun." Aki gave her a hug before she left.

"Yellow, you're leaving so soon?" T asked as she walked past him.

Kana turned around, facing T. "Yeah, sorry. I gotta be somewhere."

T nodded. "All right then. See you soon, Yellow."

* * *

Kana stood in front of the arcade after getting lost for a while, ogling at the bright lights flashing on the outside. When she opened the door, she was blown away by screaming kids and game sounds. Where was Yusuke and Kuwabara?

"URAMESHI! GIMME MY TOKENS BACK!" Kana heard the familiar scratchy voice of Kuwabara nearby. She followed the noise and saw Yusuke running top-speed with Kuwabara right behind him.

"Hey!" Kana called out and extended a hand to grab Yusuke's shirt. He stopped short, sending an unnoticing Kuwabara crashing into him. They both fell.

"Oh, hey Kana! When did you get here?" Yusuke looked up and grinned, sweatdropping.

"Hn. Do you two have a brain at all?" Kana looked up and saw a rather short guy with black spiked hair and red eyes. "I can't understand how anybody could have fun here," he continued.

"Um?" Kana said, looking at the Gothic kid.

"Ah, right. Kana, that's Hiei." Yusuke said.

"Oh, how wonderful. Another ningen." The short guy named Hiei said. He looked off to the side, as if totally bored with everyone here.

"Here Kana," Yusuke said, ignoring Hiei, and handed her some tokens, obviously Kuwabara's. She took them and looked around. "I challenge you to Gravity Smash 7!" Yusuke cried, pointing to an arcade game nearby.

"All right." Kana said, and put some tokens in. Yusuke grinned, that cocky little grin of his, and when the screen blipped to life he began to pick his character, a guy with a ponytail in a spacesuit. She chose an alien wearing go-go boots. This was…really weird. Suddenly the screen read 'GO', and Kana, not knowing what to do, began pushing the buttons randomly. After a while Yusuke's little spacesuit-clad man fell to the ground and the screen read "K.O.".

He leaned back, his jaw dropping. "Whoa! You beat me!" Yusuke said. Kana started grinning.

"Awesomeness!" Kana cried, doing a little dance as she skipped around the arcade.

Yusuke and Kuwabara watched her with wide eyes. "Kana watch where you're—"

Kana walked straight into a door, just as it was opening.

"—going." Kuwabara and Yusuke shook their heads, as if to say, 'don't say I didn't warn you'. Kana smiled weakly, rubbing her head awkwardly.

"I'm so sorry; I should have looked before I opened the door like that…" The boy who had opened the door she walked into bent down, offering a helping hand. Kana looked at him. Bright emerald green eyes stared into her own yellow ones. His emerald orbs held her gaze, and Kana was unable to look away.

"Kurama, you're here. What took you so long?" Yusuke yelled, throwing a high-five at him.

"I'm sorry; I had to help my mother." Kurama smiled apologetically. Kana looked at him oddly. Who is this guy?

"Ah….um," Kana said, rubbing her forehead, not really knowing what to do.

"Finally, someone who isn't totally brain-dead." Hiei smirked from where he stood. Kurama turned and saw him.

"So Hiei, you're here." Kurama said, smiling. "I didn't think you'd come."

"I don't know why though. This is hardly what I'd call fun." Hiei glared at some passing kids, who were screaming and yelling as they ran past. Kurama laughed.

"So, who are you?" Kurama asked, his eyes focused on her intently. Kana shifted uneasily under his gaze.

"Kana. I'm new to the school." Kana looked at Yusuke, who was playing Gravity Smash 7 with Kuwabara. By the way Kuwabara was mashing buttons like there was no tomorrow, she guessed he was losing.

Kurama nodded. "I see. Where'd you move from?"

"Not far away…" Kana said, shrugging. "But it seems all right here. Much quieter, safer."

Kurama's eyes flashed, and for a second she saw something…what was it? Worry? Fear? "What do you mean?"

Kana shook her head. "I'd rather not say."

Kurama remained silent this time, seeming to study her features more closely. It made her uncomfortable. Their eyes met again, and Kana asked:

"Hey, Kurama…what's wrong?"

"What?" Kurama looked at her, was it alarm in his eyes this time?

Kana shook her head. "Never mind." She smiled and turned around when Kuwabara called out her name to play a round of Gravity Smash 7. Before leaving Kurama, she smiled once more. "Gravity Smash calls," she explained, and ran over to Kuwabara.

Hiei finally came out of his spot to talk with Kurama. "That girl…"

"Kana?" Kurama and Hiei watched her play that silly game that Yusuke and Kuwabara loved so much.

"Yes. She's an odd one. I'm not sure why…but something's not right with her." His red eyes sharpened as he watched her win again.

"…Really." Kurama raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Keep an eye on her." Hiei said, and the discussion ended there.

Kana finally arrived at her apartment and, weary, tumbled into bed. Aki was already home, she realized as she heard him shift in the room nearest hers. It must have been really late…Kana sighed and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. When she did, though, she had nightmares.

* * *

"IS THERE ANY REASON WE'RE HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!" Yusuke complained as he opened the door to Lord Koenma's room, slamming it behind him. Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei were all there.

"Oh, you're all here. Good. Very good." Koenma ignored Yusuke's yelling and stacked some papers.

"BUT WHY ARE WE HERE SO DAMN LATE?" Yusuke cried.

"I have an assignment for you all."

"At 11 at night!" Yusuke yelled.

"Oh, that late? I didn't realize." Koenma muttered to himself. To the Rekai Tantei, he said, "Here is your assignment. There is a powerful demon loose in your town. Apparently it's a wolf demon, and, as you know, wolf demons are powerful yet very rare. The only problem is I cannot identify who it is, or their gender, at all. Even more frustrating is the fact that whoever it is, though, is not aware of their power at all. I have no real information to give to you to help you. Just keep your eyes out for anything suspicious from _anyone._"

"AT 11 AT NIGHT!" Yusuke repeated. Koenma rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shush." He said, turning his attention back to the mounds of paper on his desk. "That's all. Good night, everyone."


	3. Chapter 3

_Rei says: _Wewt. Chapter 3. I'm amazed it's up so soon!

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**Chapter 3 **

Kana awoke, on time, but feeling wiped out. Damn dreams. Ruining her nice sleep time. She dressed and walked into what you'd call a kitchen to grab a Pop-Tart, and saw Aki already awake, eating some cereal.

His yellow widened. "Holy crap, Kana, you look like a zombie." Aki remarked.

Kana moaned. "Ah, don't remind me...it was a bad night." She munched on her Pop-Tart slowly, feeling way too tired.

He cocked his head. "When did you get home, anyways?"

"About 10:30? I dunno. I didn't really look at the clock…" Kana mumbled and headed out to get some socks for her cold feet. She walked back into her room to get some, and in the process, walked into a wall. Aki started laughing, and Kana blinked and rubbed her head. She turned to Aki and said, "I did NOT just do that…"

"Ohhh but you DID!" Aki said, his voice sounding like that Mr. Moviefone guy she's always seen on the commercials.

After Kana successfully managed to get some socks, she sat down and pulled them on, a piece of Pop-Tart in her mouth. Her skirt bothered her again…It's too damn short! She thought angrily.

She sighed. "Arr-ight, I'm leaving…" Kana said and put her shoes on and grabbed her bag.

"Okay, see you when you get home all right?" Aki said. "I'm at the shop again later."

"As always." Kana said with a lopsided smile. "See you."

* * *

Kana arrived at the school perfectly on time, which was pretty darn amazing, considering what happened yesterday. She headed down the hallway and came in contact with a locker.

"Ow…" Kana grumbled. What is it with her and walking into things today? As she walked away, she noticed some student who had obviously seen her walk straight into the locker look at her like she was crazy.

"WELL MAYBE I AM!" Kana shouted to no one. Some kid who had been walking by dropped all his books as she shouted, startled.

"Talking to the air, eh?" Yusuke came out of nowhere, grinning.

"…Yes. Yes I am."

"Are you…enjoying it?" Yusuke raised his eyebrows.

"Hell yes." Kana said, and blinked sleepily, trying not to yawn.

"You don't look too good, Kana. What's up?" Yusuke asked her.

"Didn't get much sleep last night, that's all." A warning bell rang and kids scattered about hurrying to their class before the next bell rang. He yawned. "I'm going on the roof. See you later." Kana managed to wave a little before heading off in the other direction.

* * *

She sat down in science, barely able to keep her eyes open. But today was different, because no one really looked at her weirdly like yesterday. As Mr. Kertai began his lecture on so-and-so, Kana stared out the window, occasionally looked back at the teacher and nodding as if she was listening to a thing he said, and not trying to keep herself from falling asleep.

After what seemed like hours later, the bell rang and Kana found herself stumbling into math. The teacher, a real bitch, already began lecturing about some stupid math problem all of the kids had gotten wrong. Kana sat down and tried to pay attention, but she was too tired…

_THUNK._

"What was that?" The math teacher, a short pudgy lady named Mrs. Hio, jerked away from the chalkboard and turned to stare accusingly at the class. One kid tentatively raised his hand.

"It's the new girl…she's dead!" A kid cried. Another student reached out and hit the kid's shoulder.

"No she's not; she just fell asleep!"

Mrs. Hio's eyes glared. "WHAT!" She walked over to Kana's desk, where Kana's head was down on the desk, eyes closed, seemingly in a peaceful sleep. "NO ONE SLEEPS IN MY CLASS!" The crazy teacher cried, and took a ruler and slammed it down onto the desk.

Kana didn't move.

"She must be a really heavy sleeper…" One kid muttered to another.

"Yeah, the teacher's probably really pissed now..."

"Poor kid. She's new, too…"

Mrs. Hio seemed to not hear the kids talking and slammed the ruler onto the desk right in front of Kana's ear, harder. This time Kana's head snapped up.

"…What!" Kana looked about, alert. She heard a tapping of heels to her right. Oh crap, she thought as she turned slowly…

"Head down to the main office and tell them why you're there. No one, I repeat, NO ONE, falls asleep in MY class!" Mrs. Hio cried. Kana grabbed her bag and slowly headed out the room, with absolutely no intention of going to the main office. Instead, she walked straight out of the school and down to the park. One kid seemed to notice her.

"Where're you going?"

Kana looked at him. "To get some sleep." Then she turned and walked out the door, no one stopping her.

* * *

"Ah…it's so nice without a screaming teacher in your ear…" She said to herself as she sat on a bench under a shade of trees. She closed her eyes and nodded off, this time having no dreams at all to bother her.

* * *

"Kana?"

Kana slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a pair of emerald orbs. "…Kurama?"

Kurama smiled. "What the heck are you doing sleeping on a park bench? I tried waking you plenty times before, but you wouldn't wake. You must have been tired."

Kana blinked. "I didn't get much sleep last night…and I fell asleep during math but got caught…so then I just walked out of the school and came here." She looked at Kurama. "Why are you here?"

"School's already over, and I almost missed you if I hadn't taken the long way home." Kurama explained.

"Why did you take the long way?" Kana asked, then instantly regretted it. Stupid question.

"I like to pass by the park to watch the roses sometimes." Kurama said, motioning to a cluster of rose bushes off to the side.

"Oh…kaay…" Kana sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "So."

"So." Kurama repeated, sitting down on the bench beside her. "Where do you live?"

Kana pointed somewhere in the distance, obviously no help at all. "Somewhere over there. In apartment 34-B with my older brother."

"No parents?"

Kana sighed, as if she had gone through this plenty of times before. "Mother's dead, father's up in the old house getting drunk or something."

"…I see." Kurama nodded to himself, as if recalling something of his own experiences in the past. But what could he possibly know? Kana thought to herself. The guy seems freaking perfect. There's no way he could have had something tough to deal with like--

She stopped the thought immediately and turned her attention back to Kurama, who was already talking about his mother, Shiori. Is he like, a momma's boy or something? Kana couldn't help but think that.

"—honestly I think my mother does too much…I try to help her out." Kurama looked at her and smiled. Damn, Kana thought, that's a damn good smile. "I don't like feeling useless."

"I know how you feel about that," Kana said, nodding.

"Yeah…" Kurama stared off into the distance. Suddenly he turned his attention back to her. "I'm sorry; I have to go now. I'm afraid it's getting late and I must get to my house…" Kurama stood up and offered a hand. Kana took it and stood up, brushing imaginary dirt off of her damned skirt.

"I should go too. Aki would have a cow if I didn't head over to the shop now."

"What shop?" Kurama asked her.

"My brother works at a CD store called The Heat. Have you ever been there?" Kana asked.

Kurama shook his head. "Can't say I have, but I know where it is." He smiled and waved as he walked away. "I'll see you later, Kana." Kana waved back, and then hurried off to the apartment to change.

After Kana changed, she headed down to the shop to meet Aki. Somehow she got too absorbed with her thoughts about nothing and wound up somewhere totally different.

Where the hell was she?

Kana looked around; weird dark trees grown close together seemed to hide something in the shadows. The sun's out! Why is it so dark over here?

"_Wolf…"_

Kana jerked her head over to where the sound was coming from.

"_You cannot hide forever…"_

"What the hell--?" Kana mumbled, looking around frantically for the source of the voice.

"_Give in…"_

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"_Wolf…we know who you are…even if you don't."_

Kana furrowed her brows, totally lost. A little freaked out? Hell yes.

"_Give in…"_

"AUGH!" Kana yelled furiously. "This isn't funny!"

The voices stopped then. Kana rubbed her arms, feeling chilled. "I gotta get the hell outta here," she said to herself and quickly walked off.

* * *

Some time later Kana opened the door to The Heat and was greeted with the familiar heavy metal screamo music. Thank God. T saw her and waved.

"Hey Yellow." T said. "You staying today?"

Kana nodded, sighing in relief. "Yeah."

"Aiight, cool." He smiled and went to attend to a black haired Goth with a handful of CDs.

Kana smiled and walked over to Aki. "Hey," she said.

Aki turned and grinned. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I got…side-tracked." Kana said, remembering that creepy voice in…wherever she was. She shook her head. "It was nothing, though." Aki nodded and handed her some CDs.

"Sort these."

Kana took them and started putting them where they belonged.

Finally, something normal.

* * *

Reviewwwww. 


	4. Chapter 4

_Rei says: _Tah dah! It's chapter 4…finally. I'm sorry. I've been caught up with playing Katamari Damacy and stuff…it was also my birthday a few days ago! –bows- Forgive, forgive…  
Let this be a lesson to you all: When you want to get things done, _never _play Katamari Damacy! I also have to finish an English report…Grrr.

All right, well, read and review, you know, the usual.

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

Eh. School was okay. The math teacher seemed to forget all of yesterday's events. Kana sighed and slung her backpack over her shoulder as she headed out of the school's exit. She noticed Yusuke with a brown haired girl nearby, so she headed over.

"You skipped class again, Yusuke! I had to cover for you as always." The brown haired girl scolded him. Yusuke sighed and put his hands behind his head.

"Like I ask you to, Keiko." Yusuke said. He spotted Kana from behind Keiko. "Hey Kana." Keiko scrunched up her nose, as if to say 'what?' but then turned and saw a girl behind her.

"Oh, uhm…hello." Keiko said uncertainly. She looked from Kana then back to Yusuke.

"Oh, right, right. Keiko, this is Kana, the new girl." Yusuke grinned, introducing them to each other.

Keiko smiled. "Hi, nice to meet you."

"And you." Kana raised an eyebrow and grinned. "All right, well, I gotta get out of here. I'll see you around Yusuke." She said her goodbyes and left Yusuke and Keiko.

* * *

As Kana headed home, she spotted a familiar red-head heading down the same way. "Kurama?" As she spoke, he turned and smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. A bag full of groceries dangled from the crook of his elbow. He waited for her to catch up before he greeted her.

"So what's up?" Kana asked.

Kurama motioned to the bag he carried. "I had to pick up some groceries on the way home," he explained.

Kana peeked in, seeing some carrots in the bag. "Carrots, huh?"

Kurama nodded with a lopsided grin. "Yup."

"That's nice." Kana said. They started walking together.

"Where's your apartment? Is it this way?"

Kana nodded. "Yeah, but you have to turn up…there." Kana pointed to where the road forked off to the left.

"I'll walk you home, then." Kurama offered.

"Sure."

* * *

It was a few days later and there was nothing eventful. Kana sighed as she threw her bag down on the floor and walked into her room. She changed into some normal clothes and flopped onto her bed. In a few minutes she was going to the movies with Yusuke and the others, so she might as well rest a bit…She closed her eyes only for a moment when there was a few hurried knocks at the door. It must be them, she thought as she got up to open the door.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Keiko stood in the doorway.

"Yo, you ready?" Yusuke asked. Kana nodded and slid her feet into her shoes.

Kana nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

"So, where's Hiei?" Kana asked, noticing the short one was missing as they arrived at the theater.

Kurama chuckled. "He refused to go."

"…Which is not incredibly surprising." Yusuke said. He looked at Keiko. "Let's grab some popcorn, okay?" Keiko nodded and the two headed over to the concession stand.

"So." Kana said. It was just her, Kurama, and Kuwabara now. Looking past the two, Kana saw a group of girls looking at Kurama and giggling.

"Looks like you have a fan club, Kurama." Kana said as she tried not to laugh. Kurama turned around and saw the girls blushing and giggling wildly. He turned back to Kana, grimacing.

"…Let's get seated." Kurama took Kana's hand and headed into the theater.

"Kurama gets all the girls…" Kuwabara said as he looked back at the group of girls, who walked away sadly when they saw Kurama leave. He shook his head sadly, jamming his hands into his pockets as he followed Kurama and Kana.

Yusuke and Keiko joined the others in their seats with a huge bag of popcorn. Kana was seated aside Kurama, and Kuwabara was on the other side of him. Keiko was next to both Kana and Yusuke.

"What movie are we seeing anyways?" Kana asked.

Kurama shrugged. "Yusuke picked it. Guess we'll figure out soon enough."

Kana nodded, agreeing, and settled into her seat, managing to grab a handful of popcorn from Yusuke. The movie started out with a huge bang, making Kana jump. The title flashed upon the screen in big annoying letters. Kana stole another handful of popcorn from Yusuke, leaning back and watching the movie.

* * *

"That movie…was awful." Kana said when the movie ended. Yusuke, however, protested.

"No way! It was awesome!"

"I agree with Kana," Kurama said, and Kana laughed.

"What did the clowns have to do with it?" Keiko asked, turning to Yusuke.

Yusuke stopped. "Well, that, I don't really know. But it was still an awesome movie!"

Kana shook her head. "See, you don't even know what it was about!"

"It was pointless…" She looked at Yusuke, whose mouth fell open in shock. "No offense, Yusuke."

"I liked it too!" Kuwabara cried.

They all looked at him, and Kuwabara threw his hands up in the air. "What! I did!"

"Yusuke…" Kana started.

Yusuke looked at her. "Yes?"

"Don't pick the movies _ever_ again." Kana said, and everyone nodded, save for Kuwabara and Yusuke himself, who both crossed their arms and pouted in a un-manly-like way.

* * *

After the movie was over, they all headed their separate ways. Kana and Kurama, however, did not, as they were heading home together.

"That was…interesting." Kurama said.

"Yes. Very different." Kana smiled at him, and he smiled back. "Yusuke's got horrible taste in movies."

Kurama chuckled. "It appears so."

Kana kicked a rock in her path. "We should do it again."

"Do what?" He cocked his head to one side.

"You know, the movies. Let's go again sometime."

Kurama paused for a moment, seeming to consider it. "We really should."

* * *

Kana headed into her apartment after saying goodbye to Kurama, who then turned around and headed back the way they both came. She put her bag down by the door and pulled off her sneakers. Aki was at the shop today, but she didn't feel like going today. Instead she changed into some loose-fitting clothes, flopped onto her bed, and popped in a movie she's seen over a million times.

It wasn't until the movie was over that she realized Aki wasn't home yet. What time was it, anyway? Kana pressed the 'stop' button on the remote and padded over into the other room to get some soda. She took a peek at the clock and saw it was already 6. It was only then that she decided to work on her English assignment, writing a paragraph about some poet.

Aki still wasn't home, even now, long after she finished her stupid paragraph. Ah well. It's Aki. He probably decided to go to McDonald's on the way home.

…Riiight.

Kana sighed and went back into her room where she watched some crime drama before falling asleep…Aki still hadn't come home.

* * *

Later that night,a tall man appeared in the doorway of where Kana lay sleeping. His hair was black, cropped to his shoulders, with stunning amethyst eyes that glittered with a sense of familiarity just by looking at the sleeping form. He was dressed all in black. The only thing odd about him was the ears. They were white wolf ears that protruded from his head, listening and intent.

"She hasn't changed much, has she?" He murmured quietly, leaning against the doorframe.

A voice inside him, sounding pained and angry, replied, "_Don't touch her..."_

The wolf demon smiled a mysterious grin that revealed gleaming fangs. "Don't worry, I won't…Besides, I have something to settle with someone else…"

"_Don't do this."_

The demon chuckled. "Why not? It'll be so easy…just like how your mother—"

"_Don't. Even. Say. It." _

"Ooh, so harsh." The demon responded quietly. "But really, wouldn't you rather have him dead? He is, after all, the reason you fled here in the first place…He's the one who hurt you."

"_He wouldn't have hurt anyone in the first place if you hadn't been…"_

"But you are forgetting one thing…I am you. You couldn't have escaped your fate no matter how hard you tried…"

The inner voice stayed quiet this time, knowing that what he was saying was true.

"That's better. Now, shall we?"The demon picked up a piece of paper and a pencil, scribbling something on it and leaving it by Kana's alarm clock. "We can't have the girl worry while we're gone," he explained. "We're getting revenge."

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Rei: Oi! I am very VERY sorry about the long wait for this chapter to come out! (It's been...what, MONTHS?) I have no excuse, other than the fact that I am a lazy...lazy...person. (bows) If you can forgive, here is the fifth chapter...(goes off to sulk in a corner)**

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, nope...

* * *

Chapter 5

"Koenma sir! Koenma sir!" The blue ogre burst into Koenma's office. Koenma looked up from where he sat, stamping endless amounts of paper.

"What is it now, ogre?"

The ogre waved his hands around frantically. "The wolf demon has been spotted on our radars, sir!" Koenma's eyes widened.

"Well, go on, tell me! Where was he? Do Yusuke and the others know?" Koenma leaned forward to hear the ogre's information.

"Well, no, we're working on that, but the wolf was last spotted somewhere over here." He handed a piece of paper that looked like a map into Koenma's hands. Koenma looked down and studied it.

"Apartment 34-B? What is this place?" Koenma shook his head.

"Beats me, sir…" The ogre sighed. "I'll alert Yusuke at once!"

Koenma sighed as he cleaned up a pile of papers, already stamped. He sighed and shook his head. "What are you planning, wolf…?"

* * *

It was around 9 o'clock when Kana finally awoke. She looked over to her alarm clock and saw something attached to it. What the hell? She wondered as she picked it up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. 

"_I'll be gone for a few days. –Aki"_

She stared at the piece of paper, confused. Why the heck would Aki need to leave for a few days? Where would he go, anyways?

She sighed and placed the paper back down where it rested before and padded into the other room. She shouldn't worry; it was Aki…He's older than she is; he can handle himself…  
She shook her head as she started heating up some water. She tapped her fingers impatiently as it warmed up, readying a bowl and a packet of ramen noodles.  
Kana stirred the noodles, letting it sit for a little while before going to eat it.  
_I am definitely thinking too much, _Kana thought to herself.

* * *

Yusuke ran down the sidewalks, looking frantically for Apartment 34-B. Whoever was in there, they must have known something about the wolf demon, and he was determined to figure out where the damned thing has gone off to. While in thought, he slammed into something rather red and a weird pinkish shade... 

"Ouch," he mumbled, rubbing his head. He clenched his fists; he didn't have time to mess around. He started to get up and take off, but:

"Oh, Yusuke."

Yusuke looked up. The "wall" was actually Kurama, and Yusuke flushed, embarrassed. "Sorry," he muttered softly. He looked up. "Did you get the message...?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did, and I am rather...upset about it all." Looking closely, Yusuke noticed the worry in Kurama's eyes.

"And why is that?" Yusuke asked, terribly confused.

"Because...Apartment 34-B is where Kana lives."

* * *

Kana hummed to herself, completely unaware of the fact that the Rekai Tantei was racing to her door at his very moment. She sighed and ate some more of her ramen, thinking, when all of a sudden... 

BAM!

Kana started; her fork clattered onto the floor, a few ramen noodles falling with it. She sighed. _It was only the door, nothing more..._She thought to herself as she picked up her fork.

_Wait...the door?_

Kana hastily ran to the door and opened it. "I'm very sorry, I wasn't paying attention...I hope you were waiting too--Yusuke?" Kana just realized that it wasn't just anyone at the door, it was Yusuke, Kurama, and the others. "Um, hi...?" _Well, this is really confusing,_ she wondered. Why are they coming to visit this early in the morning? And...what was with their expressions? They looked like they were worried about something...like they knew something...

She let them in and they wandered around the small apartment, obviously searching for any traces of the demon that had, unknowingly to Kana, been there just a few hours ago.

"You guys? What's going on?" Kana asked them. Kuwabara looked at the ramen bowl on the table.

"You...eat ramen in the morning?" He asked, eyeing the bowl weirdly.

"Yes..." Kana said, her eyebrows raised. Kuwabara made a face and looked around.

"Kana, who left this?"Hiei asked, holding up the piece of paper that Aki had written on telling her about his absence.

"My brother. Why?" Kana asked. What is up with them? "Look, why are you guys here? And why are youwandering around looking through our stuff?"

"Because this was not written by your brother." Kurama said, appearing in the kitchen.

"What on Earth are you talking about, Kurama?" Kana studied their faces. Was this a joke?

"Kana...where did your brother go? Did he say anything on where he went?" Yusuke asked her.

Kana put her hands on her temples; thinking this through. "N-no...He didn't..." She looked at them suddenly. "Why would this matter to you all? Why is this such a big deal?"

They looked at each other; obviously wondering who would speak up. Neither of them, it seemed, wanted to.

Finally, Hiei stepped forward. He didn't care either way; it was just a stupid girl, he didn't care what she felt.  
"Because there was a wolf demon here."

Kana paused. "A _what_!"

"You heard me, mortal. A wolf demon. We are tracking it down and we need to find it. It is extremely dangerous; extremely powerful, and we must do all we can to arrest it. Koenma told us that it was last seen here, and if you don't tell us anything, I will personally strangle you." Hiei said coldly.

"Hiei, that's enough of that," Kurama scolded. Hiei rolled his scarlet eyes and proceded to a corner of the room, where he crossed his arms. "Look, Kana, everything Hiei just said is true. There was a wolf demon here, and we are searching for it."

Kana stared at them in shock. "Are you guys...in some sort of...cult?"

Yusuke nearly burst out laughing, but remembering the situation, he kept quiet. "Of course not, Kana! We're Spirit Detectives!"

"And what's that?" Kana asked him, looking at them all as if in a new light.

"We'll need to explain this all later. For now, can you tell us where you think your brother may have gone off to? It may help us with finding the demon, seeing as your brother left and the demon was here..." Kurama said solemnly. "If our guesses are correct, then your brother is in grave danger."

"I can't tell you anything. My brother and I just moved in here, I can't imagine where he'd want to go...except..." Kana's yellow eyes widened. "He wouldn't have..."

"What is it, Kana?" Kuwabara asked her.

"I'm almost certain he went back...home, to Kyoto...but, it doesn't make sense, he hated--" Kurama put his hands on her shoulder. She stopped and looked at him, tears stinging the back of her eyes. "None of this makes sense..."

"Kana...you need to come with us. You need to show us where your old home was." Kurama said softly.

Kana bit her lip, her mind racing. Wasn't it just fifteen minutes ago that she was just sitting at the table, eating her breakfast? How did it all come down to wolf demons and...and Spirit whosits? "I...I don't want to go back there," she whispered, horrible memories running through her mind, making her tremble.

"Kana, you _will _be safe with us. You don't need to worry..." Kurama looked into her eyes, seeing the tears about to spill over her cheeks. "It's going to be fine; we need to find your brother. Trust us." Yusuke and the others watched nervously, waiting for her reaction.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she nodded.

* * *

The wolf demon arrived at a doorstep, running its tongue over its fangs impatiently. "_Look where we are," _he told his inner self, the being trapped inside of him. 

"_Don't..." _The inner voice pleaded. _"This isn't right."_

_"This isn't right? THIS isn't right? The treatmentwe have gotten from HIM isn't right, and I'm going to settle it. We'll teach him a lesson that will cost his life."_

_"I deserved it. You deserved it."_

_"No we didn't, don't you see? You have powers, ME, and that is why HE did that to you years ago. He feared you, don't you get that?"_

The door opened and a man appeared, looking in his late 50's, with a mustache and a beard. His face was heavily lined with wrinkles, worry lines, and his teeth were yellowing. A cigarette hung from his hand, which dropped immediately when he saw the figure in the door. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in fear. He hurriedly tried to shut the door, but the demon's pale hand held it gently, but firmly, and entered.

_"Hello, father dearest. Remember me?" _The wolf demon grinned maliciously and advanced, slowly, onto his target.

"S-stay away from me!" The man grabbed a frying pan from the kitchen and held it out protectively, shielding his face.

_"Do you think I'm going to do that? Do you think I'd really let you live after all that you've done to us?" _The demon's eyes narrowed. _"Or could it be...that you've forgotten?"_

The man whimpered and tripped over the edge of a recliner, crying out, crawling fast to get away from the being. "Leave me alone!"

_"You have, haven't you? Well, let me refresh your memory!" _The demon struck the man across the cheek, snarling in fury._ "You beat us, you shunned us...because you were afraid of us. Yes, you were afraid, and since we were young, we couldn't stop you. We haven't developed our powers yet...and you, always so angry, day in and day out hurt us mercilessly..." _He struck the man again. _"Well let's just say, we're back for revenge." _

* * *

A few minutes later the group arrived at the house. 

"It's...It's this one, this house right here." Kana lifted a finger and pointed to the house in view, a rather plain house.

"I can feel massive spirit energy here..." Hiei said, his hand reaching for his katana.

They knocked down the front door and Kana gasped. Her father lay on the ground, bleeding...dead. A tall being stood at his side, grinning evilly, licking the blood off his fingers. Her eyes hardened and her anger mounted.

"You...BEAST!" Kana screamed, and without warning, she hurtled towards the demon, grabbing a hold of its neck and was holding tightly with all her might.

"Kana!" Kurama cried out in warning.

The demon, however, remained impassive. _"Are you mad, girl? Even after all that has happened to us, you still feel remorse for this sack of shit?"_

"I don't know you, I'm not going to answer. You killed him! My father!" Kana cried angrily.

"_You don't know me, you say? Ah, but I think you do..." _And right before her very eyes, the body she held by the neck seemed to melt away, to show the obviously dyed purple hair...the yellow eyes, so much like her own...

"N-no..." Kana whispered in disbelief. Her eyes widened in shock and she dropped her hands to her sides, backing up, shaking her head. "Aki...?"

* * *

**Rei: A bit of a cliffhanger, I suppose! Hehe...leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I know, I know. It' s been forever.  
Enjoy, and leave a review when you're done. D**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Kana let go of him immediately, stunned. "Aki…?"

Aki sunk to the floor, unable to meet her eyes as she stared at him in utter disbelief. It was Aki…He had done this.

"How could you!" She cried, tears threatening to spill over. She clenched her fists. This was too much…

Kana backed up, shaking her head over and over. "No…" Yusuke reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.  
"Kana…"  
She seemed to snap then. "No!" She pushed past the group and out the door, leaving the Rekai Tantei alone with Aki.

* * *

Kana ran blindly, her vision blurred by her tears. Aki killed their father. He really did…It was all so real.  
So Aki was the one Yusuke and the others were looking for…the wolf demon. Why hadn't he told her? Didn't he trust her? Was he lying to her all this time? 

A clap of thunder sounded and it started to rain. She still ran, not knowing where she was going, not really caring.

Rain pounded all around her, yet she did not feel a thing. Her hair became wet and her clothes soaked clean through, her teeth chattered, but she didn't even realize it.

_All this time…_

Tears mingled with the rain as she still ran, away, away…from everything.

_I never knew…_

It all made sense. Why dad seemed to hate Aki so much…so many years ago, that one night when she witnessed—

She stopped running and stood still, shaking. Why can't she feel the rain? Lightning illuminated everything around her for just a moment, and she jolted.  
_I want to escape._

She started running again, until the views around her became more familiar, as she headed into the park she fell asleep in that one time when she left school.

_Why can't I feel anything?_

She sat down onto the bench, inhaling deeply, staring into the little pond that sat before her and started crying all over again. She drew her knees up to her chest and sobbed with the rain.

* * *

"So…explain this." Hiei said coldly.  
"You're the spirit detectives, aren't you? He told me you would come…" Aki said his voice low and solemn. "It's all my fault. I should have tried to stop him, to keep him from emerging…" He covered his face with his hands. "I didn't want her to know…I wanted to keep this from her, so she would be protected. Safe." 

"You mean Kana?" Kuwabara asked.  
Aki nodded. "But he didn't want to be kept inside. He tried so hard to come out so many times, and so many times I've managed to keep him locked inside…until now." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was utterly distraught, his face showing his sadness and confusion easily. Kurama watched him, as if looking for something, then turned to the door, looking back at the group, his bright emerald eyes solemn.

"Look, just come with us." Yusuke said, watching Aki steadily. He looked up at him, and he nodded slowly.

"Sure. Just…" He stiffened, then looked away, as if focused on something else entirely. They watched him, confused.

"_No." _Aki's head swiveled back to them; eyes wide, his mouth open a little in shock. Before their very eyes, his features melted, his yellow eyes replaced with amethyst ones, his hair shortened and blackened…the wolf demon had taken over. He got up, holding out a pale skeletal hand to keep them from coming closer. He took the body of Kana's father, his hauntingly beautiful face contorting into a horrid mask of horror. "_I will never come to you!" _He shouted, and disappeared into the night.

"Dammit!" Hiei yelled, slamming his fist into the wall. "He got away!" His red eyes flashed with anger.

"Koenma's gonna kill us…" Yusuke moaned.

"There's nothing more we can do here, then…" Kuwabara said, looking around the place. He winced at the mess in the room, the papers and broken glass strewn everywhere, the spatters of blood on the floor and the walls. The man had fought, but he didn't win.

"Jesus, when did it start raining?" Yusuke said, peeking out the open door. He cursed under his breath. "We're gonna get soaked!"

Kuwabara looked at Yusuke, a small grin on his face. "Well then, you'd better start running, Urameshi." With a little wave, he took off at a run out the door into the rain, but somehow managed to slip and fall on the driveway. He got up quickly, cursing to himself, and Yusuke started laughing, but it wasn't the same laugh. It was hollow, strained. Obviously the events today had bothered him. It bothered everyone.

"You're all fools," Hiei said, and, with that, took off, dashing home, becoming nothing but a black blur shooting from tree to tree.

Kurama stood in the doorway, watching Yusuke and Kuwabara get into another fight, becoming increasingly soaked, and then it hit him.

_Kana._

Where did she run off to, anyways?

Looking around, he spotted a navy umbrella sitting by a coat rack and took it, opening it before he ran outside into the rain.

* * *

How long she sat there, crying, Kana had no idea.  
Everything was falling apart and she had no control over it. 

She hated this feeling.

Kana rubbed her eyes, sniffling. She had no tears left. It was just her, and the pounding rain, and that was just fine with her.

She was numb all over, but she was shivering. Kana didn't seem to notice this as she closed her eyes and winced, seeing that demon's face morph into Aki's in her mind.

_He's dead. My father is dead._

Kana inhaled deeply, trying to relax herself, but unable to.

_This isn't fair…_

* * *

Kurama suddenly stopped at a corner. Where was he going, anyways?  
_Where would she go? _He wondered, thinking hard to himself. He didn't know her all that well, but she was new here, and… 

_The park._

He ran to the park, thinking fast. She had to be there, right?

The umbrella served as little shelter from the torrent of rain and wind that came down all around him as he ran down the sidewalk, his shoes becoming soaked through from all the puddles he managed to get in.

His breathing slowed as he reached the entrance to the park, remembering that little bench she fell asleep on that one time he found her. Could she be there?

No longer running, Kurama walked through the winding paths that led to the rose bushes. It was completely empty, the park. Of course it was.

_Here it is._

Through the rain he could see a figure on the bench, huddled over. It was her. It had to be.

He approached slowly, his breath halting as he came upon her.

She was soaking wet, her head bent down, her arms wrapped around her knees. Her shoulders were shaking; she was crying. His eyes softened and he let the umbrella cover her, feeling his hair get soaked within seconds. He let a hand rest on her shoulder.

"Kana," he said softly. She stopped shaking and looked up slowly, surprised. Her eyes were rimmed with red, the tears that had fallen left tracks on her cheeks. She looked so sad…

"Kurama…" she breathed.

He smiled and sat down on the bench next to her, making sure the umbrella still hovered over her head. "You're soaked…"

Kana tried to manage a smile. "I barely noticed…" Her eyes welled up again, and she bit her lip. "Kurama…he's dead. I hated him, but…why am I crying?" She turned away, wiping at her eyes.

"It's all right to cry." Kurama said, his grip tightening on the umbrella's handle. Kana's eyes welled up, and she brushed away at them quickly. He wrapped his arms around her, the umbrella clattering onto the wet sidewalk. She clung to him, breathing in deeply to calm her crying as she closed her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, and was silent.

Kurama looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep. He smiled and, slowly gathering her up in his arms, walked home.

* * *

Kana opened her eyes, her head feeling fuzzy. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. Where was she? And…what the hell was she wearing? She looked down at the flowered nightgown she wore. Kana wrinkled her nose and looked around her, realizing she wasn't her apartment…What was going on! 

Kana screamed and fell off the bed.

The door opened, and, to her surprise, it was Kurama.

"You're awake. I heard screaming…are you all right?" He shot her a quizzical look, watching her rub her head awkwardly.

"Yeah…I think…" She clicked two and two together. "Why am I in your house?" She tried to remember what happened yesterday, and then it all came flooding back to her. She sobered and looked to the floor. "Oh."

"Yeah. You sort of passed out yesterday at the park, so I brought you to my house. My mother was the one who changed your clothes, and you're _not_ in my bed, so don't give me that weird look. You were totally drenched and shivering." Kurama explained.

"Thank you for that. And I'm sorry to impose on you…" She got up. "This is kinda awkward…What time is it?"

Kurama flicked his green eyes to his watch. "About noon."

She nodded. "Ah."

"Yeah, you were asleep for a while." He smiled and nodded to a pile of clothes on the dresser. "There are your clothes from yesterday. My mother washed them. If you want, change and come downstairs. Lunch is ready."

"Sure." Kana smiled and watched as Kurama shut the door behind him, then grabbed the clothes and quickly changed into them, heading downstairs.

She saw Kurama and an older-looking woman with black hair and kind eyes. She looked over at the stairs and smiled, seeing Kana there.

"Oh, hello. You're up." She said, and Kurama stepped forward.

"Kana, this is my mother." He said.

Kana smiled. "Hello."

"I'm Shiori. Are you sure you're feeling okay now? You looked absolutely ghastly last night…" Shiori said, looking over Kana worriedly.

"Oh…Don't worry. I'm fine." She said, feeling a little awkward. She wasn't used to having someone worry over her like this. "Thank you, though. For everything. I mean, you didn't even know me and--"

Shiori shook her head. "I don't mind. You're a friend of Shuuichi's." Kana wrinkled her nose and looked at Kurama. Shuuichi? Kurama shook his head, as if to say 'not now'.

Suddenly Shiori motioned to the plates on the table. "If you're feeling hungry there's food on the table for you two. I'm afraid I have somewhere to go now, just to run a few errands." She looked over at Kana, smiling. "It was very nice meeting you. It's always nice to see a friend of Shuuichi's once in a while…" She grabbed a jacket and her purse and slipped her shoes on. "Take care, all right?"

Kana waved. "I will."

Shiori shut the door and Kana wheeled on Kurama. "Shuuichi?"

Kurama's gaze shifted. "…Yeah. Kurama is just a nickname."

Kana said nothing, but raised her eyebrows. She shook her head and went over to the table, beginning to bite into a sandwich.

As they ate, Kana thought over everything that had happened last night. She looked at Kurama and blushed. Had they really embraced like that?

"What?" Kurama asked, and Kana realized that she had been staring.

She shook her head. "It's nothing." She went back to her sandwich, but didn't eat it. "Hey, Kurama?"

He looked at her questioningly. "Yes?"

"Thanks."

Chapter 6: end

* * *

**O  
I wrote this song while listening to a lot of sad Gackt songs, so...hopefully that explains a lot of the angsty-sad emotions in this chapter.**

**Review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Rei: Amazing! Chapter 7 already! All I can say is that I am very proud of myself...  
I want to say a thank you to the people that read this and have stuck with this story even though it takes forever to update a new chapter. Rei Rei loves j00. **

**Koji Jaganshi: Thank you so much for pointing out my mistake! -loves-**

**Read and review, my lovies.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Kana stood up, having finished her lunch, and looked at Kurama. "I think I'm going to go home…I've stayed too long anyways."

"Are you sure?" He waited for her nod, then continued: "If you want I can take you home…walk you, I mean…or drive."

Kana stopped. "Drive?"

He nodded. "Well, yeah. I've got a permit."

"Wow." Kana shook her head, smiling. "But no. You've already done so much for me."

"I think it would be better…" Kurama persisted.

Kana sighed. "If you insist, soldier." She mock-saluted him and waited for him to grab his jacket.

"Just—" Kurama was interrupted by loud knocking from the door. Kana jumped; not expecting it. Kurama furrowed his brow. Who could that be? He went to open the door and got nearly slammed into the wall. Kana ducked behind the staircase.

"KURAMA!" Two voices shouted, barging in already. "Where are you?"

"And where's Kana? She's alive and in the country still, right? RIGHT?"

"What? Kuwabara, that made _no_ sense!"

"Well, you'd never know!"

Kana poked her head out, hearing the all-too-familiar voices, and came out of hiding. "Hey you guys."

Yusuke and Kuwabara were standing in the doorway. Seeing her they hung their heads in relief.

"You left last night and we didn't know what happened to you. So we decided to check up on Kurama, since we lost him too…hey, where is he anyways?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama came out from behind the door, rubbing his head. "Here…"

"Sorry Kurama…looks like we kinda got you there…" Yusuke grinned apologetically.

"So Kana, are you okay?" Kuwabara looked at her as if studying for wounds or something.

"It wasn't like I was mugged or anything. But yeah…I'm fine for now." Kana smiled, looking at Kurama. "Thanks to Kurama." She ran her hands through her hair. "But I don't know what I'm going to do if I run into Aki…"

"If that happens, get your ass out of there and get us." Yusuke said, jerking a thumb to his chest. "That demon is a wanted criminal and we need him."

Kana cocked her head. "You never said that before."

"Well, that's 'cause we just found out…"

Kana shook her head. "Sometime you guys have to explain all of this to me…"

Kurama nodded. "We will."

"We will?" Yusuke looked at Kurama questioningly.

"We don't have much of a choice, Yusuke…y'know…?" Kuwabara said.

"Ah…right…" Yusuke looked at Kana, giving her the thumbs-up. "We will definitely fill you in later."

Kana looked at him, a little relieved that all of this will be explained. "Thanks." She sighed, stretching her arms and yawning. "Well, I was on my way back home…"

"Oh, really? Then we'll come too! I've got nothing to do, and knowing Kuwabara, he doesn't either, so we're set." Yusuke grinned. Kuwabara shot him a look.

"Was that an insult, Urameshi?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Guess we're not taking the car," Kurama said with a smile. Kana shrugged, as if to say, 'well, maybe next time', and then headed over to break up Yusuke and Kuwabara's little fight.

"Okay!" Kana barged in between the two of them, shoving them out the door. "Time to go!" She shouted, urging them forward, ignoring their protests. Suddenly Kana turned around, seeing Kurama was still standing in the doorway.

"Hey, aren't you coming?"

"…Hmm? Oh, yes." Kurama smiled at her reassuringly and followed after them.

* * *

Kana slumped against the door, sighing and closing her eyes. Kurama and the others just left. It was just her now. 

The apartment seemed so empty. Just a minute ago Yusuke and Kuwabara were wrestling on the floor in the kitchen, over nothing as usual. She smiled; they were so strange.

It was dark in here, she realized. She got up and flicked on the lights, her eyes softening at the sight of the place. How long ago was it that everything seemed so normal? It was just her and Aki, and it was fine that way. But now…

The phone rang suddenly, and Kana jumped.

_I wasn't expecting that, _she thought to herself as she headed over to the phone in the kitchen.

"Hello?" Kana asked, cautious.

"Yellow!" The voice of T filled her ears and Kana sighed in relief, realizing she had been holding her breath.

"Hey T. What's up?"

"Ahh, not much, not much. Is Aki there?"

Kana stiffened, gripping the phone a little more tightly. "N-no, actually, he went back home for a few days. He had to sort something out," Kana lied.

She heard T whistle. "Oh, that's right. I forgot. He had taken off a few days."

"He did?"

"Yeah. Well, sorry for botherin' you, Yellow. See you around."

_Click._

Kana hung up the phone and ran her fingers through her hair, grimacing at the knots she felt. _This will all be figured out…it will all make sense soon._

Yeah. Right.

* * *

Kana woke up the next morning, slamming her alarm clock into the wall. God, she hated that thing. She fell out of bed and untangled herself from her sheets, quickly getting into the shower and slipping into her school uniform. 

"Skirts should be outlawed…" She muttered to herself, grabbing some coke from the fridge and putting on her shoes. She looked over at the clock and cursed.

"Aw, dammit. I'm going to be late again…" Kana said as she swung her backpack over her shoulder and ran out the door.

* * *

It was right after fourth period. Kana sighed. This day was going by so slowly… 

She heard the sound of pounding footsteps and turned around, wondering what was going on.

"You!" A female voice cried. Kana looked at her oddly, trying to remember if she had seen her before. She was tall, with long, straight blond hair and green eyes.

"Uh…me?" Kana pointed at herself, looking around the hallway making sure she wasn't mistaken. Nope. The hallway was totally empty.

"Yes! You!" She stomped her foot angrily. The girls behind her held the same angry expression as she did. What the hell was going on?

"Who…are you?" Kana asked.

"Nina, founder of the Shuuichi Minamino Fan Club!" She cried.

Shuuchi…where had she heard that name before? Kana wondered. Oh, damn.

_Kurama._

"According to my sources, you spent a day at the lovely Shuuichi-sama's house!" She said, looking over Kana curiously.

_How'd they know that? _Kana thought. This day just kept getting weirder…

Nina stepped forward more. "Well? Did you?"

The bell rang, and Kana jumped. Great timing. She turned and started to walk away, fast. "I-I'm going to be late. We'll talk later."

"No! You can't leave!" She shouted, and started running after her. All the other girls followed. "_We have questions to ask!_"

Kana bit her lip, dashing around the corner. Kurama's got wild fan girls now?

"What color is his room?"

"Does he like spaghetti?"

"_Boxers or briefs?_"

"Holy crap…" Kana muttered as she skidded along the floor. She regained her balance and kept running, checking to see if they were still behind her. Yep. She was being chased by rabid, screaming fan girls. This was just _great._

Without looking where she was going, she connected with something hard.

"Ow…" She muttered, looking up to see who she ran into. The familiar redheaded Kurama stood there, his hand outstretched.

Wait…Kurama?

He took her hand. "This way." He said, and took off down another hallway.

"Kurama? Since when were you in this school?"

"Well, of course. This is the high school, correct?" He smiled.

"I thinkShuuichi-samais nearby!"

"_I think I smell him!_" They heard a girl screech, and Kana stifled a laugh. She was dragged further down the hallway, until suddenly Kurama opened a door and led her inside quickly, shutting the door closed. Kana sniffed.

_Supply closet._

"Shh," he whispered, and Kana quieted, listening.

They waited until the screaming girls had stomped past the door, completely unknowing that they were inside. Kurama let out a sigh.

"Uh…Kurama? Where are you?" Kana put out her hands, trying to feel where she was. She came upon something hard and warm. His chest. She drew away, blushing, thankful for the darkness. "Ah, s-sorry…"

He opened the door and they stumbled out. Kana slumped against the wall.

"Now that," he said, "was extremely close."

Kana looked over at him. "Since when did you get a fan club?"

Kurama looked away, putting a hand to his temple. "Don't even go there. I took no part in it."

"Suuure you didn't."

He shot her a glance. "What was that?"

She put her hands up in mock-surrender. "Nothing, nothing." Kana smiled, trying to hold in laughter. Kurama shook his head, sighing.

"What am I going to do with you?" He asked with a crooked grin.

"Did you hear them? One of them said they thought they could have 'smelled you'…" Kana said.

"They're a bunch of very scary girls," Kurama said, "I don't doubt they could."

Kana's yellow eyes widened. "Wow."

Kurama sighed. "At this point, anything's possible." He grabbed his bag up from the floor and swung it over his shoulder. "I'd better get to class."

Kana nodded. "Me too…" She looked over at the clock conveniently on the wall opposite them. "We're really late." She cursed silently. "See you later, Kurama." And with that, she took off down the hall.

Kurama stood there, in the hallway, watching her until she turned down the next hallway. He smiled a little.

"'Bye."

He turned on his heel and headed upstairs.

**Chapter 7: end**


	8. Chapter 8

_Rei says: _Tah dah! Chapter 8! I'm happy with how this one turned out, even though I kinda wanted it to go in a complete opposite direction. I've been busy with last minute x'mas shopping an' stuff, so that kinda explains the thirteen-day wait for this chapter. I hope that I can get Chapter 9 up before Christmas...not that that actually might happen, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she? For this chapter I was listening to L'Arc-en-Ciel's 'Time Goes On'. Why did I say that? Well, I don't know. Just kinda saying it randomly. So anyways, leave a review, enjoy the chapter...and in case I don't update before Saturday, **Merry Christmas**!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"I can't believe it…" Kana moaned, slamming her head down onto the table. "I failed this stupid art project…"

It was lunch, a few days after Kana's run-in with the rabid girls of Kurama's fan club. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at her curiously.

"You couldn't have done _that_ badly," Yusuke remarked, sipping some soda.

Kana, her head still on the table, used her hand to slide over a piece of cardstock paper. "See for yourself," she mumbled.

Yusuke curiously took up the paper, looked it over, and nearly choked on his last sip of Coke. Kuwabara peeked over his shoulder, and his eyes bugged out of his head.

"Dear God…it looks like a sock…" Yusuke said after a few moments of silence.

"I told you." Kana muttered, "It's not supposed to be a sock. It's supposed to be a dragon. We had to draw a 'mythical beast' for art class."

"Oh, I had to do that for art class too…" Kuwabara raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it kinda does look like a sock." He flipped over the paper to see the big '50' written sloppily with red ink. "Whoa! I did better than you…" He remarked, his eyes widening at the grade she had gotten.

"What'd you get, Kuwabara? I got an 80 on that thing…" Yusuke asked him.

He said proudly, "I got an 84."

Kana finally lifted up her head, and snatched back the paper. "All right, all right, I get it. It's a sock. I'm not a very good artist. Never was."

"And I agree totally." Yusuke said, nodding his head. He leaned over to her. "So, how are the fan girls?"

Kana shook her head. "I haven't seen them since they chased me down." She looked at Yusuke wryly. Ever since he heard about that incident, he hasn't been able to drop it. Apparently Kana being chased down by girls of Kurama's fan girls was incredibly funny to him.

"If I were you," Yusuke said, "I wouldn't have been running from them. I'd take 'em on, until _they're_ the ones running from _me_." He grinned, giving a thumbs-up.

Kana sighed. "But that's 'cause you're you, Yusuke."

He nodded matter-of-factly. "Exactly." In answer, she smiled, shaking her head.

Kuwabara left to throw out his tray in the garbage. "Bell's going to ring soon, guys." He told them as he came back. Sure enough, the bell rang just then. Kana and Yusuke both got up, grabbing their bags.

"Great timing, Kuwabara." Yusuke said, patting him on the back. On the way out of the cafeteria he tossed his tray into the garbage. "Oh!" He whirled around suddenly. Kana stopped short. "Kana, I forgot to tell you. We're coming to your place tonight."

"And you were going to tell me this _when_?" Kana responded.

Yusuke waved his hands around in the air. "I forgot. I was supposed to tell you yesterday. We're going to explain everything today."

"You mean…"

Yusuke nodded. "Yep." He shifted his bag onto his other shoulder. "We'll be there around seven-ish. I'll be amazed if Hiei shows up, though," he said, referring to the other black-haired guy Kana's only seen a few times.

Kana agreed. "Okay, I'll see you then."

* * *

School had just ended, and Kana set her bag down onto the floor. She opened the fridge and grabbed a soda, leaning against the wall, thinking. They're finally going to explain everything. She sighed, lowering her head. They'd be here in a few hours.

She headed into her room, flicking on the TV. After flipping through the channels she settled on the crime drama she watched once a while ago. She sighed, her hands under her chin, splayed out on her bed. As Mr. So-and-So raised his gun to stop the criminal, she closed her eyes, nodding off to sleep.

_BANG._

Kana's head jerked up, looking around wildly. An absent glance to the TV screen told her the crime show was over and now another show was on, this one a soap opera where some guy was crying on a nurses' shoulder. She looked at it weirdly, shutting it off after finding the remote under her bed on the floor. What time was it? She got off her bed, shaking off her sleepiness, and went to look for the source of the noise.

There was an odd shuffling noise from the kitchen. Kana slowly poked her head around the corner, trying to see who it was, careful to not make any noises. It was probably Yusuke or something…no big deal…

Her eyes widened. There, standing in the kitchen, was _him. _His hood was lowered, the white wolf ears clearly protruding from his cropped black hair. His amethyst eyes were focused somewhere else; he didn't see her yet.

Kana clamped a hand over her mouth, closing her eyes, her head against the wall. Her mind was racing, her heart was pounding. It was him. The wolf demon.

"Hiding, are we?" A deep voice murmured in her ear. Kana screamed, jumping sideways. The wolf demon straightened, his face etched with amusement. "No need to scream, dear, it's only me." He grinned, showing his fangs. "Don't look so angry, dear."

"I have every right to," she said, "you killed my father."

The demon made a weird clucking noise with his tongue. "Ah, back to that, eh?" He leaned against the wall, watching her every move. "He deserved it, don't you think? After everything he's done to you, weren't you the least bit happy he's gone?"

Kana didn't answer him, trying not to give him any satisfaction. Instead, she changed the subject. "Where's Aki?" Kana said, hoping to sound brave. Her hands were clenched into fists; they couldn't stop shaking.

"Well, we just get right to the point, don't we?" He said, slinking closer to her. Kana stepped backwards. "Aki's safe, inside. You don't need to worry." He patted his chest, where his heart would be. "He won't be coming out for a long time."

Kana shut her eyes hard. She had to be dreaming. Yes, this was definitely not happening.

"Oh, it's very real," the demon said, "I'm very much real."

Kana gritted her teeth. "Give him back," she said. "Give Aki back."

His eyes widened. "'Give him back', she says! Oh, but my dear, how do you give something you cannot?" He leaned in closer to her, and Kana could smell the scent of lavenders and old blood. "You see, I _am_ Aki. We are one and the same." He cocked his head, his ears flicked back, listening for a moment.

"You're lying," she spat. He had to be.

He chuckled, turning his attention back to her. "Why would I lie? I have not the need for it." He waved his hands, which were long and slender, with pale cat-like nails. "You are a silly one." His eyes hardened, his former mood gone. He seemed to study Kana's eyes for a bit, and Kana was unable to look away from the amethyst gaze. "Ah, your eyes. Just like his, you know." His expression grew distant, and Kana tried to back up, wishing Kurama and the others would get here _now_. She crashed into her dresser, knocking over a picture frame. The sound brought the demon back. He ran his tongue over his fangs. "Now, let's get to business."

He put one hand delicately under her chin, lifting her face to meet his. "You have something I desire." He looked her over. "My love, why are you so frightened?" He said, looking at her with amusement. Suddenly there was a knocking from the door.

"Kana?" Kurama's voice was heard muffled through the door.

"_Kurama_!" Kana screamed, relief flooding over her. The demon snarled, slapping her across the face.

"Kana? What's wrong? Let me in!" She could hear Kurama jiggling with the doorknob, his knocks getting faster.

"I'll be back," he growled. "You got lucky this time." His face softened, and he traced the outline of her face with a finger, sending chills down her spine. "Until we meet again, love," he said, and just like that, he was gone.

Kana was unable to move, frozen in her spot. She trembled, still feeling the demon's touch, one hand touching the spot where he had hit her.

She heard a soft _click_, and the door flew open. "Kana? Kana, where are you?"

"I'm here," she called out weakly. She looked up, and saw Kurama standing in the doorway, looking at her worriedly. She felt her eyes well up in tears, and her vision grew blurry.

"You're so pale…'" he whispered, quickly closing the gap between them as he wrapped his arms around her trembling body. "What's wrong, Kana?" He asked softly.

"He was here," she whispered. Kurama's grip tightened, drawing a breath inadvertently. "Kurama, he was _here._"

He pulled away from her, his hands on her shoulders, his eyes studying her. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"The demon, Kurama." She repeated. "He was here."

"I didn't even sense him," he said, more to himself than to Kana. "What did he say? What happened?" Kurama asked her quickly.

As Kana explained everything that just took place, she could see Kurama grow more and more worried. When she finished, he embraced her again, trying to calm her down.

"It's all right, Kana. You did what you could. You're safe now." Kurama murmured. She inhaled deeply, breathing in his soft scent of rose petals and cologne.

How long did they stay like that? Kana wasn't sure. But some time later she heard Yusuke and Kuwabara, and they pulled apart, looking at each other, a little embarrassed.

"Kana, your door was wide open." Yusuke said, stepping into the apartment. "Anyone could just walk in and…" He stopped and saw Kurama and Kana. "Hey, Kurama, you're here already."

Kurama turned to face him. "Yusuke, he was here. The demon just came for Kana."

Yusuke's mouth dropped open as it sank in. He then punched his hand. "Fuck," he cursed. Kuwabara looked at Kana, who still looked a little pale.

"You okay, Kana?" He asked. Kana nodded a little slowly.

"I'll be fine," she answered him, trying to reassure him.

"And I didn't sense him," Kurama said, "He must have been masking his spirit energy."

Yusuke was still incredibly mad. Kana could tell he was trying not to punch the nearest wall. "Koenma's gonna be so pissed to know we let him go again…"

"I'm sorry," Kana apologized. "I should have done something, maybe even stalled…"

Kurama turned on her. "Don't even. It's not your fault." Kana said nothing, but lowered her eyes, still feeling guilty.

"What went wrong today?" A voice, sounding bored, was heard from Kana's window. They all turned to see Hiei kneeling on one knee in the window.

"You're not going to like this, Hiei…" Yusuke said glumly. Hiei narrowed his eyes.

"What a surprise," he said, casting his red eyes to the ceiling. "What is it?"

Kurama turned to him. "The demon got away again. He was here before any of us got here. Kana had a run-in with him."

"Of course." He said, his tone was odd, it was as if he were trying to control whatever he was feeling. "Of _course _he got away." He cursed under his breath.

The few moments of silence that followed was broken by Yusuke cracking his fingers. "All right. Let's explain this all."

* * *

_Rei says: _Dun dun dunnn. I had a little trouble with coming up with things for Hiei to say. I kinda wanted him to show up, since he hasn't made an appearance since...what? The 6th chapter? Okay...well that's not so long ago, but yeah. '

Click the blue-box thing and leave me a review. You know you want to.


	9. Chapter 9

_Rei says: _It's been a while. ENJOY. ;

* * *

Chapter 9

"…And that's it." Yusuke said, getting up from where he had sat cross-legged on the floor. He cracked his fingers again and yawned, looking at Kana for her reaction. But Kana was so out of it, so deep in her thoughts that she had barely noticed them all staring at her.

This…was probably the weirdest day Kana had ever experienced.

"Well?" He leaned over to put his head in her face, so they were eye-to-eye. Kana blinked, realizing he was there, startled.

As Yusuke chuckled, Kana sighed, running her hands through her hair – something she's started to do often. What _did_ she think of all this? If you had asked her a few months ago – she would have laughed it off, said it was ridiculous. Now, though…

She looked at all of them, sitting on the floor. Hiei though, was standing against the wall furthest from them, making as little conversation as possible. Save for a few interjections from Kurama, they let Yusuke do all the talking. And, for the first time, Yusuke sounded pretty intelligent. Of course, what he was _talking _about was totally another subject…

It was a few minutes before she actually spoke. "I can't say I don't believe you guys," she murmured, drawing her knees up to her chest. At this, Kurama and Yusuke seemed to relax, as if Kana not believing them had been something they worried about. "And I _also _can't say your talk of demons is crazy. Insane." That much was true, too; it was only a half an hour ago that she had encountered one herself – the one who claimed he held Aki inside him…she shuddered, shaking off the thought.

"You're the first one we've told in a while," Yusuke said, cracking a smile. "It's nice to know that you don't think we're insane."

"Hey now, I never said _that_," Kana said, laughing. She saw Yusuke's face, but then raised her hands in the air as if she was surrendering. Her expression suddenly turned serious. "Thank you."

Kurama smiled at her. "It was about time we told you anyways," he said, then turned to face Hiei as he heard him move.

"It seems we're quite done now," he said, his tone made it evident he was bored. Without another word, he soundlessly exited the room just as he had come, through the window. Kana stared after him blankly for a moment.

"Don't worry," Kuwabara said, waving his hand dismissively, "that's typical Hiei behavior." Kana nodded absently.

"It's only eight," Yusuke said, his face lighting up. He grinned. "Let's watch a movie." Kuwabara thought it was a brilliant idea, and he and Yusuke both left the room, searching for some DVDs. Kurama got up from where he sat, placing a hand on Kana's shoulder.

"Are you sure you're all right?" He asked her, worried. Kana looked up at him, smiling.

"I'm fine; don't worry about me." She said reassuringly. "Thank you, though. Not just for today, I mean--," she faltered, searching for a word. "I mean…for everything within the past few days."

Again, he smiled. "It's no problem," he said. Kana nodded, more to herself than to him, and got up from the edge of her bed.

"Now, let's go find Yusuke and Kuwabara." She said with a grin, and Kurama nodded. Both exited her bedroom to find the two on the floor, with a bunch of DVDs in their hands.

"I think we should watch _Halloween,_" Yusuke said, smiling as if he found treasure.

"Or _Pirates of the Caribbean_," Kuwabara interjected, sorting through the few movies he held to show off the copy to Kana and Kuwabara.

"_Halloween,_" Kana said. "I've seen _Pirates _too many times," she said, earning a strange glance from Kurama. She whirled on him. "What?"

Kurama couldn't help but laugh. "Nothing," he said, covering his mouth. Yusuke waved around the copy of _Halloween_, waiting for some attention.

"Come on, come on," he said, jumping up and down. "Let's not sit around doing nothing! I want to watch the movie." He opened the case and took out the disc. Kana gave him the remote, and after a few moments of fumbling with it, Yusuke finally got the movie to play. The four took a seat on the couch – Kana on one end, Yusuke and Kuwabara in the middle, and Kurama on the other end.

"I never saw this movie," Kurama mused as the theme began to play, revealing the opening credits. Kana over at him, eyes wide, surprised. He caught her expression and half-smiled.

"Shh!" Yusuke said loudly, putting a finger to his lips, indicating that everyone be silent.

* * *

It was at least an hour or so into the movie, with everyone intent and focused on the chase between Michael Myers and the bimbo. At this point, Kana had to question her sanity – today she had a run-in with a real demon, had these guys tell her they were Spirit Detectives - taking orders from a toddler-ruler - and here she was, watching a horror flick with them. It was incredibly strange.

An odd noise jerked her back to reality. On screen, the killer was standing right behind the girl, the knife raised. But the noise didn't come from the TV. And Kana wasn't imagining it – she saw Kurama's head snap over to the direction of the noise. Kana had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

The noise was actually a snore. Yusuke's head was back against the couch, his mouth wide open, sleeping. And _snoring_.

"I don't believe him," Kana whispered. "He seemed more excited about the movie than any of us, and he's sleeping."

"He's not the only one asleep," Kurama said, "look." He nudged Kuwabara's shoulder, and his head flopped to one side, revealing his sleeping face to Kana.

"Let's leave them," she said. "I'd feel bad if I woke them up now." Kana smiled at the two, wincing at Yusuke's snoring. "I never thought he'd be the snoring type," she said absently.

* * *

Because of Yusuke and his snoring, Kana and Kurama couldn't exactly watch the rest of the movie seriously. So they turned it off, and Kana headed into the kitchen.

"You want something to eat?" She said, opening the fridge and peering inside. "Unfortunately, no one's gone food shopping, and there's nothing really left…"

Kurama smiled, putting up his hands. "No, thank you." He looked over at the clock on the wall. "It's already nine-thirty?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "We've been watching the movie for longer than we thought."

"I guess," she replied, stifling a yawn. "Will you get in trouble if you're out too late?"

Kurama shook his head. "Not really."

"What about them?" Kana said, nodding over to the couch, where Yusuke and Kuwabara were now totally stretched out on the couch, knocked out indefinitely. Kurama gave a lopsided smile, following her gaze.

"I can't really speak for them…but I don't think they'll be in any trouble if we let them sleep for a little while longer." Kurama smiled.

* * *

"_Why did you do it? I told you not to go near her._" The voice – Aki's voice – resounded in his head, clearly, almost painfully. He's put up with his whining - this mental, headache-inducing whining for nearly two hours, and he was getting sick of it.

"Would you shut it for once?" He shouted back finally, snarling. It was dark, he couldn't see. He depended solely on his other senses to move around, and Aki's voice was breaking his concentration. His hands stretched out onto something thick, cold. A smile crept onto his face.

The prize.

A little moonlight filtered through the window, shedding just enough light to see what the object was. He felt Aki's fear and revulsion course through him as he saw the dead body of his father. It made him smile wider. With what seemed like little effort, he lifted the body into his arms.

"We're going to have a little fun," he said, running his tongue over his teeth.

"_No! No! What are you doing with--,_" Aki's voice ran on and on into his mind, but he paid no attention to it this time. It was quickly lost to him, and he stole away into the night, nothing more than a blur to anonymous passer-bys.

After running for a while, he finally set the body down in an alleyway, careful to make the body noticeable, yet hidden at the same time. Delicately, he traced the outline of the man's face with his finger, just as he had done with Kana. Aki's anger meant nothing to him now. He was in control, not Aki.

He threw his head back, laughing into the crisp night air.

* * *

"What are you talking about? I'll be fine," Kana protested. "Believe me, I don't need any protection."

It was quarter to ten, with Yusuke and Kuwabara still sound asleep on the couch where they had left them. Kurama shook his head.

"What if he comes back?" He insisted, stepping closer to her. "We can't risk letting him go again, or have you come to any harm." Kana gave him a weird look.

"What makes you think he'll come back anyways?" She said slowly, her eyes cautious, wary. She didn't want to encounter him again, no, not tonight.

Kurama sighed. "It's obvious he's taken a liking to you. He wants something from you. He will come back for it, whatever it may be. It may not be tonight, but all the same, we need to take precautions."

This was a losing battle, something Kana would have to get used to. She threw her hands into the air, surrendering. "Fine. But you are taking the couch, just as soon as we get _them _out of there," she said stiffly, jerking her thumb over to Yusuke and Kuwabara. Kurama smiled smoothly, taking no time to walk over to them. Kana followed.

"…How should we wake them?" He whispered to her. Kana smiled mischievously, and leaned over just so she was close enough to Yusuke's ear.

"_Wake the hell up!_" She screamed, and Yusuke jumped, his eyes wide open now, searching the room frantically. Kuwabara blinked his eyes open, as if not sure of what just happened.

"Kana!" Yusuke whined as he saw it was her who woke him up. He flopped his head back onto the couch, complaining. "Why'd you have to do that…?"

"You snore." Kana accused.

Yusuke threw her a look "I do not," he retorted.

Kuwabara rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Nearly ten," Kurama said. "You fell asleep during the movie." Yusuke moaned, saying something about how he really wanted to see the movie, and got up.

"I gotta go," he murmured almost half-mindedly, going to the front door to grab his jacket and his shoes. "Mom's gonna kill me…" Kuwabara followed, but he looked more awake than Yusuke did.

"C'mon, Yusuke." Kuwabara said, pushing him along out the door. "Bye Kana, bye Kurama." He said, and Yusuke waved a little before the door shut behind them.

"Okay." Kana said, turning on Kurama. "You. Couch. Me. Bedroom." She said, eyeing him curiously before she retreated to her room to sleep.

* * *

_Rei says: _A little longer than usual. Wewt.  
REVIEW, my loves.


	10. Chapter 10

_Rei says_: Kyaa!  
Welcome to the tenth chapter! I'm relieved I got to update so quickly...and the chapter made six pages this time, wewt. I feel so accomplished, to finally reach the tenth chapter. This is magical for me. -sparkle- Anyways. For this chapter I introduced some new characters, and yes, they are there fora reason, but for what reason? I have yet to figure it out. But never fear. ;) They'll come in handy.

Oh my gosh! It's snowing outside. I had to shovel outside for two hours today. But then, I came right back in and started typing with cold fingers. Heh heh. I'm so dedicated. -loves-

Aaanyways. I had fun with this name thing I found on the internet, where it translates Japanese names. For instance, 'Rei' means 'gratitude'. o.o;; I played around with some characters from FtIO too! Aki means 'born in autumn', Kana means 'beatiful Nara (which is a city in Japan), and Nadeshiko means 'pink' (the flower, not the color)

Enjoy this chapter. Until next time!

* * *

Chapter 10

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What was wrong with her?

Kana groaned silently, tossing the covers over her head. She couldn't sleep…or rather, she _wouldn't _sleep. And she knew exactly why.

_He _was in the other room.

He was probably sleeping soundly, perfectly. Of course. 'Cause he's flipping perfect. He can do anything. She, on the other hand…she was the exact opposite.

Kana flicked her gaze over to the alarm clock, rolling her eyes in exasperation when she saw the numbers blink midnight. It's midnight, she can't sleep. There was no way she was going to be able to get up early enough for school. And it was all his fault.

Why'd she let him sleep here anyways? She sighed, turning over on her side, clutching a pillow. It was simple enough…she couldn't say no. Not to those eyes. But now she was clearly regretting the decision, seeing as she was unable to sleep. God, she was going to be a zombie tomorrow…

She flipped herself over onto her stomach, shoving her face into the pillow and squeezing her eyes shut. She was going to sleep, no matter what.

A few minutes passed. Kana suddenly jumped out of her bed, going through her drawers to produce her CD player.

"Ah," she said, smiling. _This _will get her to sleep. She put the headphones in her ears, putting the music on to top volume. Already she could feel her eyelids getting heavier.

Finally.

* * *

Kurama opened his eyes. Why was he on a couch? He gently shoved the blanket off of him, sitting up slowly. It all came back to him. Now it all made sense. He was on Kana's couch, in Kana's apartment… 

But what was that noise?

It was a dull, pulsing sound, coming from a room behind him. He rubbed his eyes, barely noticing the clock on the wall read six in the morning. He got up, hearing the sound come from inside her bedroom. The door was wide open, so he peeked in cautiously, not sure of what to expect.

Kana was sleeping, curled up in ball, the covers on her bed strewn all over. He saw the source of the noise – the headphones she had in her ears. Since he was closer, he could just make out the sound of electric guitars and a screaming voice. How could she sleep listening to _that_?

With a thin smile, he retreated back to the couch, sighing. He had to leave, didn't he? To get his bag, his items for school…to _change_. Maybe staying the night wasn't the most brilliant idea without thinking through everything first. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary – there were no unwanted visits.

He heard the ringing of an alarm clock from Kana's room, and shortly after, the sound of a thud against the wall, the ringing ceasing suddenly. His eyes widened, and he turned slowly. Kana was walking out of the room, her hair rumpled from sleep, seeming dazed.

"Stupid clock…" She muttered to herself. Kurama raised his eyebrows, and Kana seemed to notice him then. "Hey Kurama," she said sleepily. She turned to head into the bathroom, then stopped short. "Kurama? When did I let you in?"

"I stayed the night," he explained softly. He got up. "And I must leave now, if I wish to get to school on time with all my things and a fresh change of clothes." He looked down at the clothes he had slept in, not the magenta uniform he always wore, but jeans and a black hoodie he had changed into after school yesterday.

"Oh, well, okay." She said, rubbing her eyes. Poor thing, she must be so tired. "I'll see you around school or something, 'kay?"

Kurama nodded. "Of course." He smiled, bidding his goodbyes to her, then opened the door to the apartment and left.

* * *

School wasn't something of pleasure today, for Kana was tired and pissed off. Somehow she made it into science, and took her seat at the back of the room. But today Mr. Kertai wanted something different – everyone had to get into pairs of threes for a lab. Kana groaned on the inside. 

As everyone else got up and walked over to assemble their groups, Kana stayed in her seat, watching them. Suddenly she noticed two girls approaching her.

"You have a partner?" The girl said, and Kana shook her head. "Good. We'll be your partners!" She jerked her thumb to herself. "I'm Isuzu, and that's Nadeshiko. We just call her Shiko, though."

The one called Isuzu was tall, boyish-looking. Her hair was short, but her face was pretty. Her eyes were a stunning blue-gray. Nadeshiko – or, Shiko – was smaller, and she looked shy. She had extremely long brown hair that ran in one long braid down her back. Her eyes were a light shade of jade. She smiled sweetly.

Mr. Kertai wrote down all the groups, explained the directions, and turned to his desk to grade some papers. Isuzu, Shiko, and Kana started to do some work, but it was mainly the other two who did most of it – Kana was too tired to concentrate and wrote down most of the wrong answers.

"You're Kana, right? The Kana everyone's talking about?" Shiko asked, cocking her head to one side. Kana looked at her in surprise.

"What?"

Isuzu looked up, her mouth dropped open. "You poor girl, you have no idea, do you?" She rapped her hands on the desk. "Let me see if I can explain this…okay." Isuzu leaned over the desk, careful not to be too loud. "Is it true you're in with Urameshi and all?" Kana nodded, and she continued: "You do know that he's--,"

Kana nodded. "I've heard the stories." Isuzu flapped her hands in the air.

"Well then, good. Anyways. He's basically the school bully, although he's really only a sophomore like us. Naturally, everyone stays away from him. Get it?" Isuzu tried to explain. "Even I do, and that's saying a lot. So when you show up at this school, you're hanging out with him and Kazuma." She grinned. "People are getting the wrong impression of you, but at the same time think you've got a lot of guts for being with them at the same time."

"That sounds so stupid," Kana said when she finished. Isuzu laughed and clapped her on the back.

"Exactly." Isuzu said, giving her the thumbs-up sign. "Rumors started flying after some girls saw you with them at the movie theater one day, also with Keiko and Shuichi." Her eyes widened. "I'd never really thought that someone like Shuichi would be hanging around the likes of Urameshi. Doesn't it seem odd?" She trailed off, tapping her chin with a finger. "Strange." She shrugged. "You're friends with Shuichi too, right?"

Kana nodded, and Shiko interjected in their conversation. "Shuichi? You mean Shuichi Minamino?" Isuzu nodded.

"The one and only, Shiko," Isuzu said, turning to back to Kana again. "Kana, you've got some strange friends." Isuzu laughed. "You've got the high school delinquent, the most popular guy in school, the all-around nice girl, and…Kazuma. I don't really know where he fits in." She said, rubbing the back of her head with her hands awkwardly, giggling.

"Nina's been all in a frenzy lately…" Shiko said. "You know, the president of the Shuichi fan club."

Kana shuddered. "I know her. She chased me down in the hallway a few days ago when she thought I spent the day at Kur – I mean, Shuichi's house."

Isuzu all-out laughed, thinking it to be the funniest thing she ever heard. "That's just like Nina!" She cocked her head. "Did you escape? Or did Nina and her evil minions tear you apart?"

"I managed to get away from them. I haven't seen any of them since." Kana said, sighing. That was a relief. She didn't know what she'd do if she ran into Nina again. Oh, the possibilities…

"Next topic." Isuzu said, leaning back in her chair. "So, what did you do last night that you're so overly tired anyways?" Isuzu asked suddenly. Kana looked up from writing an answer Shiko had given, and paused. To say that Kurama – er, Shuichi – had stayed over her apartment for the night probably wasn't the best idea. So, the best thing to do now was to lie.

"Stayed up too late," she said simply, and crossed out a misspelling.

Isuzu raised her eyebrows. "Ah," she said. "I do that a lot, but I never end up like a zombie the next day as you are," she said, laughing and poking Kana's side. "You could pass off as a corpse if you tried."

Kana suddenly slumped forward, and Isuzu jumped. "Hey! I didn't mean it literally!" She cried, jumping up. Kana slowly lifted up her head, laughing.

"Got you," she grinned. Isuzu glared, and Shiko's eyes were wide.

"Jeez, you gave me a heart attack," she said at last, sitting back into her seat. Then all at once, they started laughing, which drew attention to themselves. Mr. Kertai cleared his throat.

"You three, keep your voices down a little bit. Some people are trying to work." His tone was firm, but they saw the amused smile on his face. Shaking his head, he returned to grading papers, and Kana, Isuzu, and Shiko tried their best to stay quiet.

* * *

The day seemed to pass quickly after that. Or, at least the next few periods did, anyways. Kana didn't see Isuzu or Shiko again until after lunch. 

The bell rang, and Kana left the cafeteria with Yusuke and Kuwabara with her.

"I'm telling you guys, I don't snore." Yusuke whined, putting his hands behind his head as they exited the cafeteria.

Kana scoffed. "You do so! I heard you. Ask Kuwabara." Yusuke and Kana both whirled on Kuwabara, who put his hands in the air.

"Hey, I fell asleep before he did." He said. Kana sighed.

"Well, that's no help." Kana said, and saw someone in the crowd waving at her.

"Kana!" The voice was Isuzu's. Kana turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara.

"I'll see you guys later." Kana said, and before she left, Yusuke stopped her.

"Can we finish watching Halloween?" He pouted uncharacteristically. "I'll bring Keiko and Kurama, too."

Kana rolled her eyes. "As long as you don't sleep through it again," she agreed, then made her way through the crowd to get to Isuzu.

"Hey Kana!" Isuzu cried, raising her hand in the air for a high-five. "Still hanging with the strangers, eh?" She grinned, shaking her head. "Kidding, kidding." Isuzu started walking down the hallway, Kana following her. "Where you headed?"

"Gym," Kana said, and Isuzu groaned.

"Lucky. I've got English." She jerked her thumb to a door a little ways down. "Anyways, I guess I'll see you later." Isuzu waved, and opened the door and went inside. Kana hurried down the hallway to get to gym. This has been such a day…and it was only going to get crazier.

* * *

School ended a while ago, and now Kana sat on the couch, yet again, with Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and, this time, Keiko. 

"Yusuke, I don't really want to watch this movie," Keiko said.

"I never got to watch the end of it," Yusuke whined. Kana patted Keiko on the back.

"Don't worry; it's only got another half hour anyways, if we start from where Yusuke fell asleep." Kana said, smiling. Keiko sighed, and settled into the couch in silent agreement.

* * *

Outside, the wolf demon paced angrily. "With all of them here, it would be impossible for me to reach her." His eyes flashed with malice. 

"_Just leave her alone. She doesn't have anything you need._" Aki's voice resounded in his head clearly.

"You know very well she does," he spat into the silence. "I still don't see why you protect her so. You do know she has what we need. Why are you delaying?" He chuckled when he received no answer. "Just be patient. I have everything figured out." A thin smile played upon his lips.

"It will besoon," he murmured. "Very soon." He studied his fingers in the moonlight, slowly forming a fist."We will take back what we have lost."

* * *

_Rei says:_ Reviews make the world go round.  
See you in Chapter 11!


	11. Chapter 11

_Rei says:_ Aren't you guys surprised? Chapter 11 isup already! It's been what, three or four days since Chapter 10!  
The only reason for that is because my friend Emily was practically begging me to update and get my ass on a chair and type. Heh. So yeah. You're going to have to thank her. And I'm going to thank her as well, because she left me a zillion reviews - one for each chapter...TT I felt so loved-ed! -teartear- Oh, and thankies to my dear friend Ai and, again, Emily, for giving me these hella awesome ideas for the rest of the story. I think the next update will be pretty quick too. I'm so inspired! Hoorah! And also - Koji, and 14thShrineMaiden, and Ryoko - thank you for the lovely reviews. I'm excited for your new iPod! I'm desperately in need of one...it's kinda sad, I haven't gotten one already. And 14, that's EXACTLY what I was going for! I really wanted for Kana to not just be friends with the YYH gang because it didn't seem realistic (to put it in Cookie's words) . Pssh. Okay.

Enough rambling.  
ON TO CHAPTER 11!

* * *

Chapter 11

The next two days seemed to pass by in a blur. How he explained this to his mother, Kana had no idea, but Kurama insisted on staying those two nights. Instead of being paranoid, Kana eventually grew accustomed to having Kurama there and enjoyed a peaceful night's rest. Those two days were uneventful – only uneventful in a sense that there was no unexpected visit from a certain wolf demon.

"Thank heavens for weekends," Kana mumbled to herself, rooting through the fridge to find something to eat. It was already ten in the morning, and Kana was grateful to be able to sleep late. She looked over and saw Kurama's red head seated over on the couch, watching the television.

"Shouldn't you have left already?" Kana asked, and Kurama swiveled his head to look at her.

"Oh, you're awake." He said, then continued, "I should be leaving soon, yes…" He seemed to pause for a moment. He turned the television off, getting up and padding over to where she stood in the kitchen.

"Can I ask you something?" Kana questioned, grabbing a cup and filling it with the last of the orange juice. She took a sip, but then made a face, trying her best not to spit it out right back into the cup. After swallowing it with difficulty, she got into a coughing fit. "Ew." She dumped the rest of the orange juice into the sink, tossing the paper cup into the garbage can. "Ugh, that was awful. How does orange juice go bad?" She shuddered, and Kurama laughed.

"Did you check the expiration date?" He inquired, an amused look played upon his face. Kana flushed, shaking her head. "I think it's a sign you need to do some grocery shopping."

"Anyways." She continued to dump the rest of the carton of orange juice into the sink, "I really want to know what you're telling your mom. About you. Sleeping here." She eyed him curiously, tossing the empty carton into the garbage. After she did so, she turned around and faced him.

"Nothing really," he said softly. "I just tell her I'm sleeping at a friend's house."

"For three days in a row?"

He laughed. "My mother wasn't home last night; she went with her new husband on a business trip of his. My stepbrother is away on a school trip. She comes home tonight and my stepbrother comes home tomorrow. I don't think I can make it tonight. She'd get a little suspicious."

"Don't worry about it; I've had the knight in shining armor stay here for three nights, I think I'll be fine if I stayed the night alone for once." Kana laughed, waving her hands in the air in dismissal. She coughed. "You said new husband. And stepbrother." Kana stated. "So does that mean your mother remarried?"

Kurama nodded. "They got married in July."

"Ah," Kana said, tapping her chin with her finger thoughtfully. "Do you like them?"

"As long as my mother is happy," he said. He smiled at her, slipping on his shoes. "I'm afraid I have to leave now."

"All right," Kana said, walking over to him. "I'm definitely going to see you later – if you don't mind, I was hoping you'd drive me over to the food store, seeing as how I'm desperately in need of real food."

Kurama nodded. "I'll come by later." With that, he said his goodbyes, and Kana shut the door silently behind him.

She surveyed her apartment slowly, closing her eyes. Finally, some peace and quiet. With all the things that happened this week, it was nice to slip into something normal again.

"But first," she muttered to herself, "I've got to find Aki's stash." Aki kept a stash of money somewhere in his room, but where, Kana had to find out. She knew that if he were here he'd probably kill her, but he'd have to deal with it. She needed the money right now to pay off the rent for next week _and _for groceries, because the only thing left in the fridge now was some lettuce and old milk. Yuck. Definitely not what she could live off of for god-knows-how-long…

She sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she marched into Aki's room. She paused, studying the room. Her face softened. How long has it been since Aki left? It seemed like ages, but in reality it must have been only a week…It was just different. It was different without him around. They've been together for so long; being alone now was something new.

Kana shook her head, erasing her thoughts, and started rooting through his things. After a few minutes of tearing apart his room, she came upon a small box, emblazoned with band sticker and scribbles made in permanent ink. She gave a crooked smile, opening the box.

"Jackpot," she breathed, seeing the folded twenty dollar bills lying inside the box.

* * *

"Explain to my why I'm with you, grocery shopping?" Yusuke moaned, putting his hands behind his head as he walked behind Kana. 

"Chill out, Yusuke," Kana said, tossing a cereal box into the wagon. "Kurama's here too," she added.

"But that's 'cause he's the only one here with a permit," he countered. Kurama nodded, siding with Yusuke.

"He's right you know," he said to Kana, who shook her head.

"Whatever you say," she said nonchalantly, hauling in two gallon cartons of milk into the grocery wagon.

"You know, I don't think she really cares," Yusuke whispered. Kurama shrugged, smiling.

"I'm just here because I am her only ride here and back," he said. "But walking around a grocery store…" He trailed off, and Yusuke got the hint.

"…Is not really the greatest thing in the world," Yusuke finished. Kana rolled her eyes.

"Stop complaining, you two." She said, "We're almost done." Kana turned to face them. "It's not that bad."

Yusuke snorted. "Well, it's better than going with my mom," he said, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. "'Yusuke, do you know where the milk is?' 'Yusuke, do you know how much this costs?'" He mimicked, shaking his head. "She's impossible. You'd think she was just born yesterday."

"Done!" Kana beamed, having tossed in a loaf of bread. "Let's go over to the checkout." She started to run down an aisle with the wagon, not bothering to wait for Yusuke and Kurama. She looked behind her, laughing, seeing Yusuke start to chase after her. Kurama held his hands in his pockets, walking calmly as if he were taking a leisurely stroll in the park.

"Watch where you're going!" Yusuke yelled, and Kana turned her head in time to see a huge display of paper towels loom into view. She yelped, swerving the wagon just in time to avoid it. She sighed, hanging her head low. Her black hair covered her face like a curtain.

"I almost died," she wailed, lifting up her head to face the two. Yusuke and Kurama came up behind her. Yusuke clapped her on the shoulder, laughing.

"I don't think that would have happened, but you would have created a huge scene." He said, and grabbed a hold of the wagon. "My turn," he said, grinning.

"Hey!" she called after Yusuke, who was already heading over to the checkout. Kurama stood behind her.

"We'd better go after him," he said softly, and Kana jumped.

"I didn't see you there," she said, a hand over her heart. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to," he said earnestly. He smiled apologetically, then nodded towards Yusuke, who was now attempting to find the shortest line in the checkout area. "We'd better go follow him," he said, and Kana nodded.

"Yeah," she said breathlessly, then took off down the aisle after him at top-speed. "Yusuke! Hold on! I'm the one with the money here!" Kana cried. She grabbed the wagon out of his hands, throwing him a look. "These are my groceries," she muttered.

"Well, you guys are too slow," Yusuke replied, yawning. "I could have gotten old and grey if I had let you make your way slowly down here to the checkout, slowly getting out the money, and slowly paying, and slowly--,"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Kana said, cutting him off. "I wasn't that slow," she added softly.

Yusuke laughed and rolled his eyes, beginning to help Kana put the groceries up onto the checkout counter. Kurama had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, helping them as well.

After handing the cashier a few bills and receiving her change, Kana wheeled the wagon filled with her groceries out the door, with Yusuke and Kurama in tow.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kana said finally, after they successfully loaded the grocery bags into the trunk of Kurama's car.

Yusuke didn't answer, but slowly nodded his head. Kurama smiled in answer.

"It certainly was interesting," he said simply, his emerald eyes focused on the road, and Kana watched as the smallest trace of a smile came upon his lips.

* * *

"Thank you so much," Kana said, having placed all the groceries away in their proper places, with the help of Kurama. They had dropped Yusuke off at his house before making their way back to Kana's apartment. "I can now eat _real _food." 

At this Kurama smiled. He tossed the last of the grocery bags into the garbage can, then shook his head. "It's no problem," he said, "you really needed some food anyways," with a look that referred to tasting the orange juice this morning. Kana flushed, waving her hands in the air.

"Anyways," he said, changing the subject, "I told my mother I'd come right home after we were finished…" Kurama trailed off, looking at her with those eyes. Kana looked away, then nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow or something, all right?" Kana said, and Kurama nodded his agreement.

"Tomorrow, maybe," he said. He exited the room, leaving her with a grin and an empty apartment once more.

Kana sighed, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of soda. She twisted the cap off of it, and downed most of it before being interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" She wondered aloud as she set the soda down on the counter before answering the door.

"Are you Miss Iokuzo?" A man in a police officer's uniform asked, his tone was strong and demanding. Kana's eyes widened, her heart seemed to stop. She began to panic. What's wrong? Why is a policeman here?

"Y-yes," she managed to get out. Her body felt cold. Had she done something wrong?

"You'll need to come with us," he said. "We believe we have found the body of your father, and we'll need you to come identify him."

* * *

_Rei says: _Yet another cliffhanger. I'm getting known for these now, according to my friend. I can't help it though.

Review and speed along the process of...-drumroll- Chapter 12!


	12. Chapter 12

_Rei says:_  
I. NOW. HAVE. A. SCROLLY BAR!  
Didn't you guys notice it? You had to get to this chapter by _scrolling down _the scrolly bar thing! Yay!  
-sigh- Life is good. G-e-w-d gewd.

Sorry for the wait for this chapter. I had to catch up on things and my school would never load up on the days I wanted it to the most. Anyways. I asked my science teacher, the school librarian, and my mom for help on what they actually do at a morgue. So, I hope it's kind of accurate. ;)

I'm sorry but I'm not going to be able to do the mention-y thingys. Next chapter I promise I will. But thank you to all those who reviewed- the faithful and the new faces. I'm glad people are starting to like the story!

Anyways.On to Chapter 12.  
-dramatic music-

* * *

Chapter 12

Kana was escorted to the police car that sat waiting outside the apartment building. She could only barely get herself to the car; her mind was racing and she could barely concentrate on anything. The police were speaking, telling her to sit in the back of the car. Was anybody watching? Kana didn't even notice them if they were. She swallowed hard, looking out the window, taking deep breaths to calm herself. The policemen got into the car, and with a backwards glance at her, they started up the car and drove away.

She watched her apartment building fade slowly out of view, her thoughts swiveling back to what was happening now. What would she say to the policemen? 'Oh yeah, a wolf demon who's actually my brother came in and killed him'? That would go over really well. They'd probably send her off into a mental home. Something else bothered her though: how did the police find the body? Didn't the wolf demon take it with him when he left? Well, that's what Yusuke told her. She pressed her head against the cool glass, groaning silently. So much for a lazy afternoon. What was going to end up happening?

The police car slowly came to a stop some time later. Kana opened her eyes, having closed them to try to stop her flow of thoughts. Her brows furrowed. They weren't at the police station like she thought they would be; the car was parked right outside a bland building painted an awful grey color. The policemen got out of the car, and Kana did as well, looking up at the building.

"Come inside with us," one of the men said, and Kana just barely nodded, following them inside. All at once she knew where they were.

The city morgue.

Kana paled, swallowing hard. This is where they kept the dead bodies…in all those creepy file-cabinet drawers…

"Are you all right, Miss Iokuzo?"

Kana blinked, turning to look at one of the policemen. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and nodded. "I'll be fine." She said.

One of the heavy metal doors opened, and an elderly-looking man stepped out wearing a white lab coat. He took off his gloves, which, Kana realized, were stained with blood, and turned to look at Kana and the policemen. He was smiling.

"You're here to see the new arrival, yes?" He said, and Kana thought it was odd how he called the body of her father a 'new arrival'. She shivered, and all at once she wanted to get out of here. She didn't want to see any dead body, not now, not ever. She looked around, debating whether to run.

"Come with me," the elderly man said. Kana guessed he was one of the coroners or something. She looked back at the policemen, then back to the coroner. He looked like a kind man, and his wrinkles looked more pronounced when he smiled. His hair was a thinning brown tone, and his eyes were brown when she got close enough to see them.

The coroner smiled at Kana, and motioned for her to follow him through a metal door. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment, as all she saw in the room was hidden behind a curtain, sort of like they would in a hospital. She knew what was behind that curtain, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to see it. Kana closed her eyes, pausing only for a moment. The coroner looked back at her, and smiled kindly. How could he smile like that, when all day he worked with dead bodies?

"This will only take a moment," he said. "Are you all right miss?" Kana nodded, then he leaned forward and pulled away the curtains.

Kana nodded, and the coroner lifted his arms to slowly pull back the curtains. She saw him. He was just there, lying on the table, his eyes cast upwards, forever cast upon the nothingness. She shivered. His body was so pale, so cold-looking…her eyes softened. Was this the man that she and Aki had so feared once? The one who so roughly spoke to Aki…like that night, that one night that she was never meant to see…

All thoughts stopped then. Kana tore her eyes away from her father's lifeless face, meeting the coroner's gaze. "It's him," her voice cracked as she spoke. The coroner nodded sadly, as if understanding what she was feeling right now. Sadness? Loss? No. It was anger, and also…sympathy? It made sense. Kana knew that he had deserved this, but seeing his body lie there on the cold table like this, she felt a sharp pang of sympathy. Deep down inside, she knew the truth. He washer father. And no matter what he did, she would always love him, whether she admit it or not.

"Do you see this?" The coroner said, motioning to her father's arms. Kana looked to where he was pointing, and saw what he saw. On each of his wrists, two identical slashes stood out against his skin. The contrast, the red of the wound and the paleness of his skin, somewhat amazed her as she stared upon them. How had they gotten there? Suddenly, realization sunk into her. The wolf demon had planned this, made his death seem like suicide, and not murder. Her eyes narrowed.

"His blood alcohol content was extremely high. We found his body in an alleyway, nearly hidden by garbage bags." One of the policemen spoke up. Kana turned to face him, her hands gripping the edge of the autopsy table. "But the odd thing was that we found no weapon on the scene."

The coroner nodded to himself. "His cause of death was suicide."

_Suicide. _

The word echoed in her ears repeatedly. The word itself sounded so final, so…frightening. Kana knew it wasn't suicide. The wolf demon had made it seem that way. Her eyes fell onto her father's face once more, studying his face. He looked so calm, so peaceful, but in his face she saw sadness. How, she could never explain, but she did. It wasn't suicide. It wasn't suicide.

It wasn't suicide.

"Have you thought about funeral plans?" The coroner asked her, interrupting her thoughts. Kana's eyes widened. The thought never dawned on her.

I-I don't know," she said. "I don't have the money for it…"Desperation sunk into her. Because of her, her father wouldn't get a funeral? That sounded so cruel, even for a person such as her father.

"We've spoken with your aunt," the policemen continued, looking straight at Kana. Aunt? Kana never knew she had an aunt…she blinked, erasing the thought. "She will pay for the funeral ceremony."

"Don't you have a brother?" The other policemen asked. Kana nodded.

"He's eighteen." Kana said. Whatever they were getting at, she didn't like. Her tone was defensive.

"Where is he?"

Kana swallowed. "He's away."

One of the policemen raised his eyebrows. "Away?"

"Yeah, he's away." She said, desperately trying to think of an excuse. "He went on a trip with a few of his friends."

"Leaving you alone?" He said, surprised. Kana felt anger rise in her. "I'm perfectly able to take care of myself. I'm fine."

"But you're only fifteen," one of the policemen said, stepping forward. "Without any parents now," he paused, "your brother, since he's eighteen, would be your legal guardian. But in this case…" he trailed off, straightening his jacket. "Your brother is not suitable to take care of you."

"Now that's not fair," Kana started, but then quieted when she realized what she had done. She cast her eyes downwards, refusing to meet their gaze. She knew what they were getting at now.

"Your aunt has offered to take you in." The policemen said after an uncomfortable silence. "After the funeral, you will be living with her."

They're taking me away, Kana realized. They're taking me away, from everything.

This wasn't fair, it wasn't right…She had to fight; she wasn't going away, not this time. She just started making friends…

Instantly her thoughts went to Yusuke, Kuwabara…Kurama, Isuzu, and Shiko. She had only started getting close to them. She didn't want to leave. This wasn't fair.

She felt her yes well up in tears, but she held them back. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't, she wouldn't.

"Everything will be sorted out during the course of the week," the policeman said. Kana wouldn't look at him in the eye. "I know this is a hard time for you, but you must think of the future."

The future? Screw the future. They didn't know what was going on; with Aki and everything…leaving now isn't smart at all. Only, in this, did she really have a choice? These were policemen, a higher power. A fifteen-year-old had no say in something like this. She sighed.

"We'll escort you back home," the policeman continued. "We're done here. You've done what we needed you to do." He smiled reassuringly, then nodded and said a 'thank you' to the coroner.

Kana nodded slowly, turning back to smile at the coroner before following the two policemen out of the room, turning her back on her father.

The way home was awful. Kana sat in the back of the police car, her head pressed against the cool glass again, fighting back tears.

* * *

When at last they arrived at her apartment, Kana climbed out, saying a quiet thank you to the two policemen before they drove off. She climbed somewhat mechanically up the stairs, and then walked down the hallway in a daze before finding her door. She scrambled for the keys that rested in her pocket to unlock the door, sniffling.

After successfully opening and closing the door behind her, she placed her hands over eyes, rubbing them profusely. She wasn't going to cry. There wasn't a reason to. She inhaled deeply, leaning back against the door. She was going to be strong. Nothing was going to happen. She wasn't going to cry, she wasn't…

All at once she gave in, sliding down to the floor and wrapping her arms around her knees, crying.

* * *

She slept horribly that night, and the morning was none the better. She got up out of bed, peeling an orange for breakfast. She took a look at the clock, and winced. Noon already? She tossed the orange peelings into the garbage and took a bite into one of the slices of the orange.

Was she really going to have to leave this place? She had already gotten so used to it. Kana sighed, rubbing her eyes and walking over to the couch and turning the TV on. She wasn't in the mood to do anything but sit around and do nothing. What better way to do that than waste away in front of a television?

She used the remote and tried to find something fairly decent, but found nothing. She groaned. Why wasn't there anything on now?

"Ah," she mumbled, landing on the cartoon channel. Teen Titans. Well… there was nothing better on, so why not? She settled back into the couch, watching the screen with only half of her mind. The other half was off and wandering, lost in thought, thinking of everything that had taken place yesterday. Was it all real? It seemed more like a dream. No, not a dream. It was more of a nightmare.

A knock on the door interfered with her thoughts sometime later. Oh, just go away. She blinked, coming back into reality. "Kana?" A voice, muffled behind the door, called out. She knew who it was right then.

"The door's unlocked," Kana said loud enough for him to hear. The door clicked, and Kurama entered, somewhat cautiously. He headed over to the couch where Kana was sitting. He watched the screen with an odd expression on his face.

"Teen Titans?" He raised an eyebrow, watching her. She didn't respond; she only shrugged, staring ahead. A half-smile spread across his face. "You have no idea what's going on, do you?"

"Sure I do," she protested. Kurama draped his arms over the top of the couch, watching her.

"What is this episode about?"

Kana paused, watching the screen. "It's obvious." Her eyes wandered around, searching for an answer. She pointed to the screen. "Robin is fighting that guy—uh, and…that girl with the hood – Rave Girl – she's being emo. Starfire is—oh look, they killed him. They won. Mission accomplished." She looked at him triumphantly, but he didn't seem convinced.

"You had no idea what it was about," he stated. Kana leaned her head back, looking at him.

"Not a clue," she confessed. "But I was convincing, wasn't I?" She smiled proudly.

"Are you all right?" He asked, walking over to the couch. Kana didn't move, but focused her eyes onto him. "Some people said that policemen were here, and I wasn't sure…"

She gave a sad smile. "How is that you know everything?" Kana murmured. He didn't answer; he only lowered his head so his eyes were level with hers.

"Tell me."

She turned her eyes back to the screen, watching the credits roll. He continued to stare at her, but she pretended not to notice. "I'd rather not say," she said after a few moments of silence.

"Kana," he said, his tone was different, strange, stern-sounding. She looked at him, surprised. "I don't like secrets," he said, his tone softer. "You can tell me," he pressed. Kana held his gaze for a long while, debating.

A minute or so passed. Kana suddenly hung her head, sighing, sounding defeated. "You win," she muttered. And then, she told him what had happened yesterday. The morgue, her father...all of this, he listened to with no expression. How could he stay so calm? How could he look at her with that serenity? By now her voice was wavering, breaking. And still, he held his appearance. Something about it was almost humorous, in the darkest way possible. He was so quiet, calm…while on the other hand; she was chaotic, torn into millions of pieces, confused, lost.

She faltered, stopping. She didn't want to tell him what came next. Saying it out loud would make it so final…

"Kana," he said, his emerald eyes searching her face.

She inhaled deeply. "After my father's funeral," she said, "I won't be here anymore."

His eyes widened, as if alarmed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kana said finally, "The policemen don't think Aki would be a suitable guardian. So my aunt is going to take me in. After the funeral, I'll be living with her from now on." She hastily rubbed her eyes, rubbing away any possible tears. "In one week, I will be gone."

* * *

_Rei says: _Gasp!  
I would say something more, but Mike is making me rush. Heh heh. See? I mentioned you. I'm so crafty.  
Review and be loved. Forever. 


	13. Chapter 13

_Rei says: _  
Welcome to Chapter 13! It would have definitely been up sooner but the document manager-thing wasn't working for me and it was annoying me. A lot. -twitch- For some reason this chapter was odd to me…I don't know, it just didn't really seem to be about anything. But, I did shed a little light on Kana's past. I know -some- people have been bugging me for a little info on it … -looks at Mike- Anyways. Along with that, I've finally revealed the wolf demon's name! –clapclapclap- It's amazing. But you don't know how annoying it was thinking of a name for him…I was so annoying, bugging practically everyone around school…T.T In the end, I decided on this one. What do you guys think? It means 'terror'. o.o Mysterious, ne? -cough- Thank you Emily for letting me use your FP account to upload this document for the time being...otherwise I might have had to type all of this all over again. -clings- This is getting pretty long..

**- ANNOUNCEMENT! -**  
I know some of you guys have read my oneshot, Never Again, and in case you were hoping for some sort of sequel, there is one. Sort of. I handed the job down to my love Aisu Kamitari, and in her story Behind the Fine Line, she put in Taji-chan. So why don't you guys give it a shot?

This time I'm going to do the mention-y things! I've never done it before, and I was planning on doing it last chapter, but I didn't, so I'm doing it this chapter and to make up for it I'm putting in all the people who reviewed Chapter 11 AND 12. Wewt. This took a while..I don't think I'll do it again. Maybe every other chapter or something like I did with this one. Blah.

-

Koji Jaganshi - My faithful reviewer! Thanks for the reviews. -luffles-Just remember: everything is happening for a reason! But, what reason, is something I won't tell just yet..) And I will stop by your profile and check out some of your stories when I get the chance!

14thShrineMaiden - My other faithful reviewer! Thanks for sticking with the story for so long. It's people like you that made me feel so loved...and...inspired.

xxDreamTheaterxx - Nyahahaha. -tackles Manderz- Thanks for reviewing Manderzes. I heart you. Don't leave me alone in gym again! T.T

Ayumi Fujiwara - Emily. Haha, you reviewed chapter 12 twice! O.O I'm glad this story keeps you happy.

Mitchan-san - Gasp! You've never reviewed before! -luffles- I thank you for the compliments, but I don't think this story is that good...Heh. -sweatdrop-You listen to Laruku? I love them to death. I worship them. Eien is a great song as well. I actually listened to that while writing a few of the chapters! I hope you review again. I'd like to hear what you say about the past two chapters. (I'm incorporating her mother into the story too, after a long hour of brainstorming). I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. -bows- And the whole some-parts-sound-like-Furuba-thing, I kinda' have to agree. -sweatdrop- Originally, I wasn't going to have Nadeshiko in the story at all and have some random guy, but then I decided against it...there were too many guys in the story already.

KenLoverDH - Saum! Pirates love Chex Mix! I heart you too! I hope you like this chapter! Like I said in science, it's a little weird. o.o

Aisu Kamitari - Ah, my dear Ai-chan. Heh heh. You left me a buncha' reviews. Catching up, are we? -grin- Sorry you didn't get to be the 100th reviewer. Mike stole it from ya'. -sweatdrop-

Swaying Cherry Blossoms - Alyssa! Thank you so much for reviewing. I love you. -happiness- I can't wait until you update your story! I hope it's soon. :D

Konane Shadow Wolf - I just about had a heart attack when I saw you left reviews for all my chapters! But I was so happy at the same time. Arigatou! -clings- Don't worry -Youko will make an appearance, and it should be in the next two chapters or so. You'll see. I just hope the idea sticks with me and it lives up to what you were hoping for. -sweatdrop- Heh heh. -bows-

MikoHatome - Zomgz. Another new face! I'm getting more and more new faces. I like that. It makes me feel special. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you do so again..

ToboeShi - Another new face. I'm starting to like the new faces. Heh heh, you're just like my friend...my story is driving her insane as well. She's trying to figure it all out before I even finish a new chapter. I like all the questions...and they will all be solved soon. Just wait and see. ;)

Keia Mizuki - Be patient! Kurama and Kana will get together eventually. _Eventually_. I'll try not to wait too long, but we'll see.

Mike - Last but not least, Mike-o. Thanks for reading it. You're so silly. I know there's a lot of things wrong, little errors and spelling mistakes, but you said you liked it, and that's all that matters. Wewt. I'm going to try to go back and edit the last few chapters and try to find all the mistakes you pointed out before. I still can't believe you know so much about YYH when in reality you've only seen like two episodes. How'd you know about Youko, silly? Heh. Blah blah blah...And I know you aren't 'some random girl'. -shifty eyes- Definitely not. Nope. I'm not using Adan! I changed the name! HE IS NOT GAY! -cough- Review again. AND! **Happy 14th birthday! **

-

* * *

Chapter 13

_It was dark. A little girl clutched at a teddy bear, frightened. Where was mother? Why had father said that she would never return? She whimpered, scared, hearing the voices from the other room escalate. What was happening to Aki? Was he in trouble? She carefully opened the door to her room, wondering. She slowly walked down the hallway, wincing when she heard her father's voice._

"_Why?" He cried, and she realized he was crying. "Why did you do it?" A crash, a bang. The little girl's eyes widened, squeezing her bear as if it would bring her comfort. "Are you happy now?"_

_She heard her brother's voice. "No! I didn't want to, I didn't mean to--," his fearful cries were silenced by something, a slap, maybe? The little girl gave a little gasp. Brother! _

"_It's your fault," he continued. His voice turned cold, angry – something the little girl had never heard before. Her father had always been so kind, so warm. His new voice, his tone, scared her. "She loved you." She heard Aki's sobs, and she found the courage to peek her head around the corner._

_Her father was standing over the little form of Aki, who was cowering from him. His eyes were wild, fierce, his cheeks stained with tears. Something about him looked inhuman. Aki was crying, hiding his face. Looking closer, she could see the beginning of a large bruise on Aki's right arm. She felt her eyes well up in tears. Brother…_

"_She loved you!" Her father shouted, his voice high and loud. "And this is how you repaid her, for all her kindness?" His face turned red, as if containing his anger. "She loved you; she loved you and your sister more than anything." His face softened, as is remembering something._

"_I didn't want to, but Deimus--," Aki tried to explain, his voice muffled by the arms he held protectively over his face. "Deimus made me."_

"_Deimus!" His father said, picking up on the word. "Deimus made you, didn't he?" He chuckled strangely, as if crazed. "You should have been able to keep Deimus away! She was your mother! My wife!" He raised a hand to strike Aki again. _

"_Daddy!" The little girl cried, not able to watch any longer. Her father paused, his arm in midair. He stared at her, as if not really seeing, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Aki lifted his head to gape at her. "Don't hurt brother," she whimpered into her bear. The man's face seemed to soften, but he looked back at Aki and shot him what looked to be a glare. He headed over towards the little girl, arms outstretched. She seemed to pull back in fear. _

"_It's all right, Kana," he said, his voice sounding unrealistically cheery. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine."_

_She didn't answer, but looked down to the ground, holding her bear tighter. "I want mother." Her father looked back at Aki again before turning back to her. _

"_Honey, mommy's gone. She won't be coming back for a long time." He explained, his arms still outstretched towards her. "Come on. It's way past your bedtime. It's time to go to sleep."_

"_Won't brother come too?" She asked, looking up at him. Aki was watching her, still on the floor. Her father gave a heavy sigh. _

"_I have to talk to your brother for a little bit. He'll go to bed later." _

_She shook her head. "Don't hurt Aki," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I want mother." She drew back from him, watching Aki. _

"_Look what you've done," her father said, looking at Aki with a cold gaze. He looked down again, ashamed. "Kana, dear, go back to bed. I won't hurt Aki."_

_She looked at him. "Promise?" _

_He hesitated. "I promise." He said finally, after a long pause. She sighed, relaxing her hold on her bear. She turned away and started to go back to her room. She felt her father's gaze follow her until she opened the door to her room and closed it behind her. _

_Her father waited a minute or two before turning back to Aki again, his former kindness gone. He went over to Aki and pulled him up by the collar of his shirt. He cried out, and Kana, from her room, heard it. She gasped, and jumped out of her bed and slowly opened the door. He promised! She walked down the hallway, careful not to have her father see her. They were in the kitchen, her father was rooting through the drawers…Aki was sniffling, covering his face, hiding his tears. He was mumbling to himself as he worked, harsh, low angry mutters. Her eyes widened, and she hugged the bear closely to her chest. Aki lifted his head, and their eyes met. His eyes widened, and he motioned for her to leave, but she shook her head. What was he doing? She drew back from the kitchen as her father turned to face Aki. She lay against the wall, closing her eyes. Brother…_

_She heard him cry out as something happened…what was going on? She couldn't bring herself to look. She was scared, so scared. Aki…Aki…_

_All at once she heard his scream, a pitiful cry. She started to cry, but didn't make any noise. The tears fell slowly down her cheeks as she heard him. She had to be strong. She shut her eyes hard, trying to muster up her courage…_

_She peeked around the corner again, and gasped. Her father was standing over her brother's still form, holding a knife. He paused, the knife held in midair. And then, in what seemed like slow-motion, he brought the knife down, and dug it into the top of Aki's shoulder. _

"_This will teach you!" He was yelling as he did his awful deed. "Let this be a lesson to you and that damned Deimus!" She stifled her gasp, and watched in horror as he slowly ran the knife down the length of his back. Aki was screaming, crying, but her father was holding him down, keeping him from writhing out of grasp. She dropped her bear, running to her father, pulling at his shirt, as if her weak arms would actually tear him away from Aki._

"_No! No! No!" She screamed over and over, crying. "Leave brother alone!" Her father paused, then slowly turned to look at her. His hands were stained with blood, the knife held poised in his right hand. His eyes were wide, enraged. _

"_I told you to go back to bed," he said, his voice barely a whisper. And then, all at once, he dropped the knife, advancing on her with outstretched arms. She whimpered, backing up. "Come on, sweetheart, back to bed," he murmured. She tripped and fell over, her eyes never leaving his face. Was this really her father?_

_All of a sudden someone blocked her view. Aki was standing in front of her, his arms spread out as if protecting her. She saw his back, the jagged diagonal line that was bleeding profusely. She stared at it, watching the blood slowly run down his pale skin._

"_Leave Kana alone," he said, his voice shaking. "She has nothing to do with this." Kana whimpered, feeling the tears start to run down her face again. He was protecting her? She didn't need the protection. Not like he did. Why couldn't she be as strong as him?_

"_Aki…" she said, her voice a high-pitched whisper. She saw her bear, laying a few ways off from where she was, and she reached out to grab it, holding it securely in her arms. Suddenly her father fell, crying hysterically._

"_What have I done?" He shouted, and Aki took this opportunity to turn to her. He held out his hand.. She looked up into his face, saw how pale he looked. He was shaking. He was scared. She took his hand and got up onto her feet, and the two ran down the hallway into the safety of Kana's room._

_She locked the door behind her, and turned to her brother, giving him a hug. He held her, shaking, trying not to cry. "We're okay," he was saying. "We're okay." She felt his blood on her hands, and she cried into his shoulder. For a while, Aki just stood there, but then he too gave in, and the two children cried in the safety of the dark._

Kana jerked awake, looking around the room wildly. She touched her face, bewildered, and felt the tears that were there. Why had she dreamed of that night? Why did she remember? She drew her legs up into her chest, barely hearing the blaring ringing of her alarm clock. Why? She wiped her tears away, shaking. That dream felt so real, it was as if she was experiencing it all over again.

She knew the rest of the story. . That night…that night was when he received his scar. She remembered. She remembered it in excruciating detail now, when before it was nothing more than a fuzzy, awful memory, worn around the edges. He still had that scar. He was forever ashamed of it. But that night was only the beginning. Night after night, Aki would come into her room, at late hours, and she would cry with him. He was so strong, he was always so strong, even though her father had tried to break him, tear his spirit apart. Prevent him from doing something…but what? She had never figured that part out, but she never asked. Part of her was afraid to, truthfully. Aki was strong, he held on, even with everything against him. She herself had a scar, on her right arm, from when she tried to stop her father once again.

She lifted up her sleeve and stared at her scar, studying it. It wasn't large or anything, it was simply a scar, a little scrape. Her father had given it to her, when she was around eight. She had tried to interfere, and got tossed aside, and knocked into the corner of a dresser. It was nothing. Nothing compared to what Aki suffered.

But…who was Deimus?

In her dream, her father had said that name, more than once. Had he said that before? It didn't sound familiar, but…

Her eyes widened. Of course! Deimus. That was the name of the wolf demon. Her mouth dropped open in shock. Her father knew about Aki. He knew he held a demon inside. Was that why he beat him? And Deimus…could he have--

She wiped away her tears, coming to her senses. The alarm clock was still ringing, and it buzzed in her head like crazy. She stopped her thoughts, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed, remembering real life. It was Monday; she had to get to school…What happened to Kurama?

She paused at the doorway, peeking around the corner. He didn't stay the night, did he? No. He said he couldn't, but she dismissed him. She didn't need any protection that night, she had told him. After she told him everything, his expression seemed to have changed completely, but she was so bad at reading faces, she couldn't tell whether it was fear, worry, sadness, or…something else. He stayed for a while after that, but then left, and she, so exhausted, decided to fall asleep. Now, staring at the couch where he would have been sleeping…

It was so strange. For some reason, she felt lonely.

* * *

She just barely made it to school on time. She walked through the hallways in a daze, holding one hand to her head. She had this terrible headache…and why was everyone staring at her today? Didn't they just get over that a few weeks ago?

"KANA!"

The sudden yelling caused a sharp pain in her head. She groaned, looking up to see who it was. In a flurry of black, green, orange, and blue, two people ran to her side, nearly knocking her over. She blinked, and saw Yusuke and Kuwabara right there, out of breath.

"Kurama—told—us—," Yusuke said between gasps. Kuwabara grasped her shoulders, shaking her lightly.

"You're not really going to leave, are you?" He cried, and Kana blinked, trying not to get dizzy.

"Stop shaking me," she managed to say. Kuwabara let go immediately, embarrassed. Yusuke's eyes were wide, like a child's. Was she really going to have to leave them? Her yellow eyes softened. "Yeah," she murmured, casting her eyes to the ground.

"But why? You like it here, don't you?" Yusuke persisted, beginning to follow her as she started down the hallway. Kana gave an apologetic smile, shaking her head.

"That's not it," she said. "It's not a matter of whether I want to _stay_ here or whether I like it here. I'm basically an orphan right now, with my father dead. And since Aki isn't around, the police said he wouldn't be a 'suitable guardian'," she scoffed, shaking her head. If only they knew, she thought angrily. "I have no choice. After my father's funeral, I'm going to live with the aunt I never knew I had." She stopped to kick a random locker.

"You should explain it to them," Kuwabara suggested. Kana looked at him.

"And tell them what?" She said, her voice rising. "'I can't leave; I've got my brother running off as a wolf demon and he's the one who killed my father'?" Kuwabara and Yusuke stared at her, wide-eyed, surprised at her sudden outburst. Kana sighed. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice softer. "It's just everything seems to be going wrong lately…"

Yusuke shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about," he said, and just then the bell rang. He cursed, adjusting the backpack on his shoulder. He and Kuwabara left Kana after saying their goodbyes. Kana rubbed her head, her headache slowly going away.

She met up with Isuzu and Shiko in science. For some reason, they looked worried. The stares she received from the people sitting in their desks made her feel wary, a little confused. What was going on? She sat down in her desk, turning to Isuzu.

"What's going on?" She asked quickly, trying to ignore the students who suddenly swerved their heads to look at her as she spoke. Isuzu blinked, looking at her oddly.

"Are you okay?" Isuzu asked, peering at her closely. Okay. Something was definitely off. Kana scrunched up her nose, trying to think of something that may have happened that people at school would actually know about. "We heard. About your father." Her face looked solemn as she said this.

Kana stopped. "What?" Her voice was high, surprised. How the hell did they find out?

"It's all over the school, actually," Shiko piped up, and Kana banged her head against her desk. That's why everyone was staring at her...This wasn't supposed to happen!

"So, are you okay?" Isuzu asked, concerned. Kana lifted up head to meet her eyes, and tried to smile reassuringly.

"I'll be fine," she replied, "as long as no one asks me that question for the rest of the day." Isuzu gave her a look, then sighed and smiled. "Whatever you say," she said, shaking her head. "But just so you know, you look like shit. And because of that, people are really going to ask you whether you like it or not." She grinned. "Could I ask something?"

"Sure, why not," Kana said slowly.

There was a pause, and then: "Are you _sure _you're okay?"

Kana groaned, covering her hands with her eyes. "Yes, for the millionth time, yes!" Isuzu looked taken aback, but still didn't look entirely convinced. She sobered, then continued in a softer tone, "At least, I will be, in a little while."

Isuzu clapped her hands. "Finally, a decent answer." She smiled, and spread her arms out. "Hug?" Kana looked at her oddly, and before she knew it Isuzu had left her desk and wrapped her in a hug. Kana smiled, patting her shoulder a little awkwardly.

"Okay, okay, yeah," Kana said, embarrassed by all the people that had turned to stare even more, if it were even possible. "Thank you Isuzu."

"If you two girls don't mind," the three of them looked up and saw Mr. Kertai clearing his throat, "I'd like to start class."

Kana blushed, embarrassed once more, and mumbled a 'sorry' before slinking down lower into her seat, wishing everyone would stop giving her those weird pity-stares as Mr. Kertai turned around and started to write things on the chalkboard.

* * *

_She was standing in the living room with Aki, facing their father. She was probably around eleven or twelve; Aki looked around fourteen or fifteen. Her father was speaking, but it took her a while to figure out what he was saying._

"_You can't leave," he sneered, looking at Aki. "You can't do anything without me." She stood right beside Aki, whether for moral support or otherwise, she couldn't really remember. Aki shook his head, which already had been dyed purple. She knew that the day before he had been beaten for that, her father saying it was improper, indecent. But she knew it was the reason he had done it in the first place. Aki had taken comfort in the different screamo music, adapted his own style, and her father hated it. She gazed nervously at the growing bruise on his lower arm. Leaving was something he had been dying to do for some time, but she wouldn't let him go without her._

"_I can do what I want," Aki said, his voice level and even. How could he stay so calm? "I am leaving. And Kana is coming with me."_

_Her father's eyes widened, getting up out of the chair. "You can't take Kana," he said. "She is staying here!" _

_Kana averted her gaze to the ground. "I'm going with Aki," she said. Aki was watching her now, she felt his eyes upon her. _

"_You can't take her with you," he said coldly. "You can leave, I don't care, but Kana is staying here. I won't let you lay your manipulative little hands on her." He looked at Kana, pleading. "Why are you going with him? He's a monster; you don't know what he's hiding." Aki stiffened, glaring at her father. She clenched her hands into fists. She could do what she wants. And what she wanted was to go with Aki, wherever he may be going._

_Aki placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on," he said, and she nodded. He picked up a backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Kana grabbed her own, filled with clothes and items she wanted to take with her, and started for the front door. Her father let out a roar, enraged. There was a crash, and turning around quickly she saw her father and thrown a lamp onto the ground, cursing. She grabbed Aki's hand, afraid, as –_

Someone was shaking her gently. Her eyes snapped open, yelling in surprise. Where was she? What was going on? Her eyes fell on Kurama standing before her, and she instantly relaxed. She was in school, at a desk…what period was it? How did she fall asleep?

"Sorry," Kurama apologized quickly. She blinked, rubbing her eyes.

"No, thank you," she said, waving a slender arm in the air, reaching down to grab her backpack. Looking at the clock, she saw school had ended a few minutes ago. "I was having a bad dream." She looked at him suddenly. "Have you ever dreamed about the past?"

He seemed to hesitate at this, averting his gaze. "Yes," he said softly. "And they're not pleasant." His voice sounded distant, as if remembering something painful. Kana knew not to press it further. She got up out of her desk.

"Mine aren't either," she said with a sad smile. He looked at her, surprised, maybe even a little alarmed. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for waking me," she said. Kurama nodded, swallowing. He cleared his throat and shook his head, as if shaking off painful thoughts.

"Come on," he said gently. "I'll drive you home."


	14. Chapter 14

_Rei says: _  
Guess what, everyone?  
Rei finally got an iPod! Hooray!  
So, I think, I might get a little lazier in typing chapters. I'll try not to, but I'm going to be more focused on figuring out how to get the iPod working than the upcoming chapters...but I have a good feeling about Chapter 15.

This chapter was actually going to be way longer. I was going to have the funeral in this chapter and everything else, but then I decided to cut it short. It's still five pages though...not as long as last chapter (eight pages) but it's still something.. I think the ending is cute, and I finally have something happen between Kana and Kurama, so hopefully it satisfies some of you guys. In order to get the fifteenth chapter up, though, I've got a little trick now. I was curious to see if I would get a response to this...anyways, I put it on the end of this chapter. So when you're done reading you'll find out.

-ahem-  
Now...

**Thank you to:**  
xxDream Theaterxx, Koji Jaganshi, Ayumi Fujiwara (Emily), 14thShrineMaiden, Pyree, AlexisANGRY,Konane Shadow Wolf, MikoHatome, Mike, fritz, Madhatterness, and Waffles for the reviews!  
That's twelve people!  
Reviews make me all warm and fuzzy inside and I love them. _Keep them coming_ my loves!

* * *

Chapter 14

The week went by way too fast. The days seemed to melt into each other, until all that was left for Kana was Friday. Tomorrow would be her father's funeral, and then…then she would be leaving. No more apartment, no more high school, no more Yusuke or Kuwabara, no more Isuzu or Shiko…no more Kurama. She sighed angrily, running her hands through her raven black hair. She didn't want to leave. But nothing was really going to change that, right?

She grumbled to herself, banging her head lightly on a nearby wall as if that would stop her train of thoughts. Students rushed by her, some gave her weird looks, but she didn't care. She just wanted to go home and do...nothing.

"Are you all right?" Kana lifted up her head to see Kurama standing there, eyeing her oddly.

"No," she muttered in reply. "Friday's almost over. Which means, tomorrow is the funeral." She paused. Oh, crap. What does one wear to a funeral? Black, right? Somehow, she knew those black Tripp pants she had in her closet wouldn't quite fit the occasion. She grabbed Kurama by the shoulders quickly, and his eyes widened in alarm. "What do you wear to a funeral?" She asked, looking him square in the eye.

"A suit, I believe," he replied calmly.

"I meant girls, dummy."

Kurama stopped, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm guessing a dress, dark-colored, like black or navy." Kana's mouth dropped open. "Does that help?"

"Shit," she mumbled to herself. She groaned, grabbing strands of her hair in her fists. She doesn't have any sort of dress anywhere. She hadn't worn a dress in so many years...Dammit! How is she going to get a dress by tomorrow? Kana slunk down to the floor, hanging her head in despair. Kurama kneeled down next to her, watching her, not saying anything. "How am I going to get a black dress, Kurama?" She asked him. Not that he'd really know, but...it was worth a shot.

"You could ask Keiko, I'm sure," he replied. Kana snapped her fingers. Keiko! Of course. She'd definitely have dresses. Even black ones. She clapped excitedly, giving Kurama a quick hug, which made him blush. "Thank you!" She cried, feeling relief flood over her. Kana got up, holding out her hand to help Kurama up. He delicately grasped her hand and hoisted himself onto his feet, letting go uickly. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, pretending to look distracted.

"Keiko...Keiko..." Kana mumbled, looking around the quickly-emptying hallways. She suddenly whirled on Kurama. "Do you think we'll find her?" He shrugged in reply, and Kana went back to searching the hallways.

Keiko and Yusuke were coming down the hallway, and, without waiting, Kana took off after them, with Kurama following behind.

"Hi Kana, hi Kurama," Keiko said sweetly. Yusuke gave a big grin to the two.

"Keiko, I need to ask you a favor." Kana said, brushing imaginary dirt off her damned skirt. Keiko cocked her head.

"Sure, what is it?"

Like she had done to Kurama, Kana grabbed Keiko's shoulders, meeting her brown eyes. "I. Need. A. Dress." Yusuke just stared at her, partly from shock or disbelief. "For the funeral tomorrow," she explained. It took a moment for Keiko to process what she was actually saying.

"Um, no problem!" Keiko said, smiling. Kana sighed, hanging her head, letting her black hair fall over her shoulders. Problem solved. "Why don't you come home with me now, and I can help you pick out something?" Kana nodded, and the two girls started talking fast, walking down the hallway. Yusuke and Kurama hung back, watching them with an odd expression.

Yusuke yawned, putting his hands behind his head and rolled his eyes. "Girls," he said, shaking his head. Kurama just gave a shrug, smiling a little. Yusuke looked at him, one eyebrow raised. He grinned. "Well," he said, putting one arm around Kurama, "it looks like it's just you and me."

* * *

"No. I'm not wearing this." 

"Oh, but come on, you look gorgeous!"

"No."

Keiko sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Why not?" She said, looking at Kana, who was wearing a simple black dress with spaghetti straps that went a little _too_ low. Kana shook her head, crossing her arms.

"It's a funeral," Kana said. "Not a party."

Keiko cocked her head and squinted at Kana, as if considering what she said. "I guess you're right," she said, and turned back to the closet to seach for something else. As she shuffled through some more clothes, Kana sat on her bed, eyeing the mess they made. Dresses littered the room, tossed casually onto the floor, the desk, even her bed. Keiko's room looked just like she'd imagined it. _Pink_.

"I don't have a lot of black," Keiko admitted sheepishly, picking up a dress, inspecting it, and putting it back into the closet. "We're going to have to work with what we have. It's a good thing you're almost my size." Kana nodded to herself, picking at the ends of the dress she still wore. Dresses were so silly. It was weird how there were people in the world who actually enjoyed wearing these things.

"Ah hah!" Keiko cried, holding up a dress for Kana to see, smiling from ear to ear. "This is perfect! You must try it on!" Kana took the dress,looking it over.It looked pretty, actually. And it wasn't totally out there like the dress she was wearing now. She sighed, agreeing.

"All right, I'll try it on," Kana said, getting up off the bed. She opened the door to Keiko's room. "Gimme a sec," she said, before disappearing into the bathroom next door.

Keiko waited until the door opened again, and her mouth fell open in shock. "Kana..." she said, her brown eyes wide, "you look amazing!" Kana blushed by the compliment, turning around for her to see. The dress was simple, black, and it fit her perfectly. It was demure and seemed proper for a funeral. "You definitely need to wear this."

Kana looked at herself, then back at Keiko. "All right," she said. "I'll wear it."

Okay, one problem solved.

* * *

Kana arrived back at her apartment, the dress Keiko lent her hung in the crook of her elbow, a pair of nice shoes Keiko had also let her borrowdangled fromher hands. She closed the door behind her, looking at the room silently. Most of her things had been packed, in bags or boxes. Unsure of what to do with Aki's things, she packed some of his stuff as well. The people who bought the apartment would be moving in on Monday...Kana's thoughts ran erratically through her mind. What would her aunt be like? She already had these images of some old hag with dentures and a knitting kit stuffed in her oversized purse. She shuddered. How weird would that be? Kana sighed. She had just gotten used to this dumb old place... 

She draped the dress over a chair, setting her backpack down as well. So many things had happened in the course of two months. What if this new place, this new house she was going to, was extremely quiet and boring? Kana grumbled to herself as she changed into a pair of pajamas. Today was basically the last day she would really spend any time in this apartment. It made her sad to think of.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. She got up slowly, going over to the door to open it. When she did, she saw Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and even Hiei standing in the doorway.

"Hey there, Kana!" Yusuke cried cheerfully. He stopped, raising his eyebrows. The others did the same.

"Why've you got pajamas on?" Kuwabara asked, looking at her oddly. Kana blushed, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.

"I wasn't expecting company," she admitted. "If you'll hold on, I can go change…"

They shook their heads, insisting it wasn't necessary. She shrugged, letting them in. Yusuke threw two boxes on the counter. Kana looked at them.

"Board games?" She said, incredulous. Yusuke nodded, and Kuwabara did the same. She looked over at Kurama, who shrugged, as if to say, 'wasn't my idea'. "How old are we again?"

Yusuke protested. "It'll be fun," he insisted, "something different, I guess. Even Hiei said he'll play." He grinned, looking at Hiei, who was nowshooting a dark glanceat Yusuke. "Isn't that right, Hiei?"

"I said nothing of the sort," Hiei retorted.

"You heard him, didn't you Kuwabara?" Yusuke said, turning to look at Kuwabara.

"Say something, idiot, and I'll kill you." Hiei threatened Kuwabara, glaring at him with pure distaste. Kana watched, wide-eyed.

Kuwabara pretended not to hear him. "I think Hamster-Legs did say something like that," he mused, tapping his chin with a finger. A growl passed Hiei's lips, which made Yusuke laugh. He crossed his arms, turning to Kurama.

"Why did I come here?"

* * *

The few hours they stayed at Kana's apartment seemed to pass quickly. To everyone's surprise, Hiei actually began to play one of the board games Yusuke had brought, until he found it too complicated, and proceeded to throw one of the game pieces across the room. Everyone took this as a sign to stop playing for awhile. They didn't really do much, but Kana was happy that they were there. It was at least nine or nine-thirty when Yusuke got up. 

"We'd better get going," he yawned as he got up, stretching his arms. Kuwabara looked at the clock, agreeing. Hiei had already left, although how, Kana had no idea. She hadn't even seen him leave.

"All right," Kana said, getting up as well. She helped Yusuke put away the game boards and held them for him while they got their shoes and jackets.

"We'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Kuwabara said his voice sounding softer than it was. They knew the funeral was tomorrow. They weren't looking forward to it either, but just the fact that they were going for her sake made her that much more relieved about it all.

When she thought everyone had left, she headed into her room, opening the window. She rested her elbows on the windowsill and stared out into the growing dark. The wind that passed through gently brushed strands of her hair away from her face. She sighed, lowering her head, thoughts running through her mind that she'd rather not think about.

"Kana?"

Kurama's voice cut through the heavy silence, hanging suspended in the air between them. He was standing in her doorway, but she did not look back. Instead, she kept staring straight ahead. He didn't move. Moonlight poured through the window, casting an eerie shadow on the both of them.

"You know…" she started to say something else, but then faltered, falling into a silence again. It was a few more moments before she found her bearings. "I never thought I'd actually enjoy this place." She paused, but Kurama did not interrupt. "Even though all this crap has happened, with my brother and all, I really ended up getting attached to life here." She drew in a shaky breath, still staring ahead. "All my life, it seems like I've been running from something, and the one time I want to stay, I'm being torn away." She closed her eyes hard, and wasn't even aware of Kurama slowly approaching her while she spoke. Gently, he placed his hand atop hers, resting on the windowsill. His hand was warm, so strong in comparison to her cool, pale hands. Her breath hitched, and she raised her eyes to meet his. He returned her gaze, but in his eyes was something so sorrowful she had to look away again.

"I understand," he said quietly, not removing his hand. "I really do."

Those words meant more to her than anything anyone had ever told her. She felt tears well up in her eyes, but she was determined to not let them fall. If only he knew…she thought, her mind lingering on the past, something she had been dreaming of often lately. For once someone was there for her. She wanted desperately to believe him, everything he said, and just stay here.

She slowly let herself lean against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He did not move, he did not speak, and neither did she. Words unspoken passed through them, something only they could ever understand. Their eyes gazed solemnly out at the night sky, at the moon, veiled by hazy clouds.

"Thank you, Kurama."

* * *

_Rei says:  
_Okay. I really want to see how close I can get to **150 **reviews until the next chapter.  
It might be asking a bit too much, but a girl can dream, can't she?  
I apologise if I ruined the mood, by the way. -runs off into the distance-


	15. Chapter 15

_Rei says:  
_Voila! Finally! Chapter 15 is up.  
I'm so sorry it took so long for it to put up. But when you finish reading this chapter, you'll understand why. It's eighteen pages. No joke. (Well, really nineteen, if you count this page of my ramblingness) It took me three hours to finish it off. I've been having so much trouble with this chapter…it took me the longest time to finally get my butt into gear and start working, but then I got this huge case of writer's block and I couldn't write anything for four days. (If you'll notice, during the funeral part there's a few moments where I just rambled and rambled. That's kinda where my writer's block was) Finally I said, 'screw it', and I took my dad's laptop and retyped the beginning of this chapter which was three pages at the time and went off from there. It's kinda funny; it doesn't even seem that long to me. So all in all, to finish this chapter, it really took me two days. Pretty amazing, huh? Since it's eighteen pages and all? Well, that's because, my friends, Rei has skill. I'm still a little unsure about this chapter. It's going to be a pain to read (I apologize in advance for that). I was almost going to stop it halfway and make it two separate chapters, but then I decided against it. This was how I wanted it to go. I just never expected it to become this long. O.O;; Just to let you guys know, I'm not sure the next update will be so quick. So enjoy this chapter a little more than you really should. ;)

Oh! Oh oh oh! Rei has an announcement!

**I now have an editor!  
**My friend Mike is my official editor person. From now on, he's going to be reading and editing my chapters so there won't be as much. Or any at all. So he deserves some credit for that too. Although, he didn't edit this chapter because I couldn't get a hold of him. >>

**And just so we're clear on this: **Someone reviewed this and pointed this out, and I realized I never actually mentioned this to you all although you probably figured this out already. For From the Inside Out, I made the characters at least one year older. This is why Yusuke and Kuwabara are in the high school with Kurama. I AM WELL AWARE of the fact that in the anime/manga they are in different schools; Yusuke and Kuwabara go to Sarayashiki and Kurama goes to Meiou. Hah, it sounds like 'mayo'. I don't like mayonnaise that much. I'm not that stupid. To make things a little easier and less complicated by going back and forth to different schools and whatnot, I just made them older. So instead of Yusuke/Kuwa being 14, they're 15, like Kana. And Kurama is not 15, he's 16. And he also has a permit to drive. This makes Yu/Kuwa/Kana in 10th grade and Kurama in 11th. I just wanted to point this out to prevent any further questions on this…get it? Got it? GOOD.

**Thank you for helping me reach my goal of 150! **

I was so excited about that, and I'm sorry I never got to put this chapter up right after I received those 150 reviews. I hope you'll be able to forgive me. I think this long, loonnnggg chapter is payment enough, yes: Yes I agree with you. nn

**Thank you to:**

Koji Jaganshi, 14thShrineMaiden, Konane Shadow Wolf , MikoHatome, RyokoOfTheDarknessRising, mel, Du Weldenvarden Farcai, Just2kawaii, Cuthien Moonleaf, Madhatterness, OneNightOneDream, keia mizuki, CryOfTheGhost, and xxDream Theaterxx for reviewing! Without you guys I wouldn't have made my goal. (I even went over! I got 152 reviews!) I love you guys. Reviews make me so happy. 3

Enough chattering. Onto (the extremely long) Chapter 15!

Quick disclaimer: I _don't_ own YYH and I _don't_ own the songI used at the end of this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 15

"Oh, hell."

It was Saturday morning, the day of the funeral, something Kana was not looking forward to. She looked down in disgust at the shoes on her feet, the ones Keiko had lent her yesterday. There wasn't much of a heel to them, but somehow she managed to trip and fall in them already, and she hadn't even gotten outside yet.

She rubbed her ankle absently, silently cursing the shoes. One glance at the clock told her that Kurama and his mother would be here in around fifteen minutes, taking her to the church, where the memorial service would be held.

She fell into a sudden silence as she began braiding her hair, wet from the shower she took not too long ago. The least she could do was make an attempt to look halfway decent…

Sometime later, there was a knock at the door. Kana got up and headed over to open it, marveling at how she didn't trip or anything in Keiko's shoes. It's Kurama, she thought. It had to be.

The door opened, and she was greeted with two arms wrapping around her body.

"Oh, Kana!" The person cried, clinging to her. Kana knew immediately it was Shiori, Kurama's mother. And she had an insanely strong grip. Kana could barely breathe.

"M-Mrs. Minamino?" She managed to get out, cracking open one eye. Shiori let go of her immediately, smiling sadly.

"You poor dear!" She cried. "Shuichi-kun told me what was going on." She hugged Kana again, this time not as bone-crushing as before. "You should have told me sooner, I would have done something, we could've taken you in, or at least--,"

"It's fine, don't worry," Kana interrupted, smoothing her dress. She smiled at Shiori. "I just want to get this over with. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to going to a funeral."

"They're never happy things, are they?" Shiori agreed. "Well then, get your things. Shuichi's outside waiting in the car." She explained, waving her hands around. Kana grabbed a jacket and locked the apartment door behind her as they started walking down the hallway. "It's been so long since I've seen him in a suit, wait until you've seen him. He looks adorable, you know--," she stopped herself, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry; forgive me if I'm talking too much."

Kana smiled, shaking her head. "It's fine."

They left the apartment building, and Shiori led Kana to the parking lot, where the car was parked. She fished through her purse to get the car keys.

"Get in, dear," she said after successfully unlocking the car door. She opened it and let Kana slide into the back seat before shutting it again. Kurama was sitting in the front seat; his head was turned to look at her.

"Hey," he said. Kana looked up, and blushed. His mom was right: he looked good in the suit. _Really _good. She looked down at the floor, flustered. Jeez, what was she doing, getting all weird over some boy like this? She scolded herself gently as she strapped her seatbelt on, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen out of place.

"Hey yourself," she smiled, nodding at his outfit. His face took on a delicate shade of pink and he turned around in his seat again. His mother, who had just gotten into the car, looked from him to Kana, then back to him again. Kana caught the knowing glance she shot at Kurama, and she looked out the window, trying to ignore it. Shiori started up the car with a little, as if she knew what was "going on" between them. Kana pressed her head against the cool glass of the car window, wishing the day would go by faster.

* * *

After what felt like ages of small talk and pleasant smiles and stop lights, Shiori finally pulled into a parking lot of a church. She stopped the car after finding a good parking spot and unclipped her seatbelt. With a heavy sigh, Kana did the same, smiling reassuringly at Shiori, who had been shooting her worried glances in the rearview mirror the whole car ride.

"You ready to go, dear?" She asked, shifting in her seat to look at her, grabbing her black purse in the process. Kurama had turned as well, and both were watching her intently. She realized then that their eyes were both emerald, only Kurama's were a much richer, deeper shade than Shiori's. She was distracted for only a moment while she pondered her new discovery, then shook her head, clearing her thoughts. They were waiting on her, she shouldn't dawdle like that…

"Sorry," she apologized quickly. "Let's go."

Shiori exited the car with a nod, and Kurama paused for a moment, his hand resting on the car door handle.

"You sure you'll be all right?" He asked, not looking at her. Kana stopped, considering what he had said.

"Yeah," she said softly, and left the car without waiting for a response.

* * *

The church was small, but was beautiful. It looked very old, its stained glass windows decorated with colorful images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary. The outside of the church was supposed to be white, but it was so old it appeared a darker shade, almost a yellowish color, in bad need of a repaint. Shiori had told her that she had never been there before, and neither had Kurama. They entered silently, and Kana looked around in awe.

People were already seated, sitting in the pews, people she had never seen before, people she remembered only vaguely from her childhood. She noticed T in the back, sitting with Ryu and Keitaro, some other people Aki worked with at The Heat. T's Mohawk wasn't red anymore, she noticed absently. Instead, it was dyed black, almost as if to match the occasion. They looked odd, sitting there in suits. It didn't seem to fit them at all. They were much better suited to their baggy chained jeans and black band t-shirts, wearing mounds of bracelets and wristbands and spiked chokers around their necks. They caught sight of her, and she waved back at them, smiling, happy that they cared enough to come.

As they turned away, Kana felt her breath halt. All at once, she felt nervous. She couldn't do this, she had to leave. She thought she was able to go through with this, but she couldn't, she had to get out…

A hand gently placed on her shoulder interfered with her thoughts. She turned slightly and relaxed, seeing Kurama standing behind her. Without speaking, he guided her slowly over to an empty pew, Shiori following them both. Kana sat down with a huge sigh to calm her nerves a little. There weren't a lot of people here, but it made sense. Her family wasn't exactly that social.

"Kana," a voice said. She blinked, seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara, as well as Keiko and two other people she did not recognize, their heads turned to face her. They were sitting in the pew in front of where she sat.

"You all came," she said, sounding breathless, a smile on her face.

"Of course we did, Kana," Kuwabara said, patting his chest. The girl sitting beside him coughed, trying to grab his attention. His eyes widened, remembering something. "Oh!" He announced, nodding from Kana to the girl. "Kana, this is my sister Shizuru." Shizuru nodded, as if confirming it, and winked at Kana. She had brown hair like Keiko's, only hers was lighter and cropped to just around her shoulder blade area. Immediately Kana knew she had that I-could-really-give-a-crap-what-you-think-of-me attitude, and she started to like her already.

"So you're the girl little bro's been talking about, huh?" She said lazily, one eyebrow raised. "I've never heard him talk about anyone like that since Yukina." She wiggled her eyebrows at Kuwabara, who turned bright red at the mention of that name. Who was Yukina? Kana wondered vaguely. "Whatever happened to her, huh little bro?" She teased playfully. She chuckled to herself, turning her attention back to Kana. "You seem all right though." She dug through her purse to produce a cigarette. Kuwabara swiped it away from her before she had a chance to stick it in her mouth. "Hey, I was going to use that," she protested.

"This is a church," Kuwabara said, sticking the cigarette in his pocket, "a funeral. Which means _no smoking_."

"Oh, fine," Shizuru responded, casting her eyes to the ceiling in annoyance. She sighed, and turned back to Kana. "How're you holding up, girl? From what Kuwabara told me, it sounds like you're going through hell."

"I'm all right," she said quietly, her eyes at the front of the church, where her father's coffin rested for the time being. It was covered with flowers, and in a way it looked fake. Unreal. Kurama was looking at her now, watching over her protectively the way a mother cat would watch over her kitten. She didn't look at him, she couldn't bring herself to. She found herself unable to look away from the coffin.

Suddenly everything was quiet. It was as if a blanket fell over the crowd. Everyone was silent. The priest had entered the church. Kana watched as he made his way to the front of the church, a Bible tucked under his arm. People hushed immediately, and Kuwabara and Shizuru swiveled back around in the right direction, their eyes following the priest as well.

She could feel Kurama shift a little uneasily next to her, and she swallowed hard. The priest cleared his throat, and if it were to quiet people, it was needless; for the place was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Kana exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath. The priest opened the Bible and began to read. How much time passed, Kana had no idea. She was spellbound, her eyes tearing at the beauty of the priest's words. Her hands formed into fists, inhaling deeply. She didn't care, she didn't care her father was dead. She didn't…right?

"Jirobe Iokuzo," the priest said, "lies here. His journey in this life has ended, and he will begin a new one, for in death, he had been given a new life, a new purpose. Do not weep, my friends," he said, spreading his arms out, watching the crowd mournfully, "he is in a better place now."

Kana nodded, as if agreeing with the priest's words. Kurama turned his head slightly to look at her, and she returned his gaze. His hand sought hers, and she grasped it gratefully. He squeezed her hand reassuringly, turning back to the priest.

After a long while, the priest allowed another to come up to him. A woman. From what Kana could see, she was in her mid-forties, with long brown hair pulled back into a bun, wearing a nice, expensive-looking black dress that fell to her ankles. As she walked, the _clack clack_ _clack_ing of her heels echoed through the small church. In her hands she clutched a piece of paper, and, after nodding to the priest, she made her way to the middle of the church, smoothing out the paper.

"Jirobe was my brother," she began, wiping her eyes hastily. Kana started. This was her aunt. This was the woman who was going to be taking her in. "Sadly, I never had the chance to tell him I loved him. He was a brilliant man, a loving brother, and a dedicated son." She smiled at the crowd, before turning back to the paper. "He loved his two children very much." At this, Kana scoffed, but covered it quickly with a cough. What a load of bullshit. This woman didn't know what he did to Aki. Or to her, for that matter. Poor thing, she had absolutely no idea at all. Kurama tightened his grip on her hand, and she realized the woman had started to talk again. "He knew what he wanted in life. I remember when we were children; he said he was going to be an astronaut." This brought a few chuckles from the people in the pews. "I laughed at him." She sighed, catching her bearings before continuing on. "My brother was a passionate man. He loved to dream of the impossible." She wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief. "When he fell in love with Asheline in high school, I knew that he had found his soul mate. Those two were inseparable. You could tell he really loved her, and she really loved him. So it was no surprise when they married." She looked up, as if remembering something. "They welcomed their firstborn, Aki, with open arms." Kana closed her eyes slowly at the mention of Aki's name. They had no idea he was the one who actually brought an end to their father's death, to the one who so-called 'loved his children very much'. "You could really see that there was nothing that he wanted more than to start a family."

The woman talked on and on, but after that Kana had tuned her out. It was like a really bad soap opera. What this woman was saying was so far from the truth it drove her insane. Okay, so she was right about a few things, like that her mother and father had met in high school. But the whole loving part? Crap. That's what it was: crap.

Hah. Don't make me laugh, Kana thought bitterly. After her mother died in the car accident, things just went downhill. That was when her father took her death so badly, he turned and blamed it on Aki, and started to beat him. Sure, there were happy memories of the old days, when her mother was still alive and everything was just hunky-dory, but she was so young then that she could just barely remember what her mother looked like. She was beautiful. Kana remembered her hair, her long black hair that resembled a black waterfall. It was so shiny and sleek, Kana remembered tugging at the ends of them, giggling. Her mother was tall, pale. She resembled a goddess, with her summertime dresses walking through the fields picking strawberries. When she was alive, everything was fine. Just fine. No one was insane. Her father was actually a happy man, which was hard to believe. After her death, all that had remained was a hollow shell of the man he used to be. He changed on the inside. He took up smoking, yelled at her and Aki. Things really did suck. Would things be different if she was still alive? Would she be sitting here at her father's funeral? Would she and Aki have had to run away, to move into this town? Maybe Aki would never have received that ugly scar on his back. If her mother was still alive, maybe none of this would ever have happened.

She felt Kurama's hand tighten, bringing her back to the real world. She felt something hot on her cheeks, and realized that she was crying.

If her mother was still alive, would she still have met Kurama?

She looked at him, at his calm face, his dark emerald eyes. She had already gotten so used to him, so used to him being there when she needed him. Like now. He was holding her hand, keeping her grounded. He was such a kind person; he understood what she was going through. It seemed unreal that she wouldn't ever have met him. Even Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko…their laughter, their voices, their kindness. If her mother hadn't died, she would never have met them either, never have known they existed.

It was a curse. And yet, at the same time, a blessing.

But it was true. If her father hadn't gone all crazy on Aki, then they would never have found the reason to escape, to move away and finally settle in that crappy old apartment. Kana would never have enrolled in Mieou High School and would never meet them all. She inhaled deeply. She had gotten so used to them, she enjoyed their company. Sure, they were probably a little crazy themselves – Yusuke said he died before and that all of them were something called Spirit Detectives, taking orders from a toddler ruler named Koenma, doing his dirty work in ridding the Human World (what they said) of demons – but putting that aside, they were great people. She couldn't imagine getting through life without them. Okay, so she's only known them for two months, tops, but that's how much they've affected her already.

Kana wiped her eyes, stopping her thoughts, and watched the woman giving the eulogy bow a little, saying a little 'thank you' while trying her best to keep herself from bursting into tears. It took her that long to give a eulogy? Although the thought was a little mean, it was the truth. That woman must have talked for a half an hour, maybe even more.

Kana watched her as walked back to where she sat, in the second row on the other side of the room. A man, probably her husband, gave her a hug as she sat down, handing her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes. There was a girl, too, a girl who looked older than her, not meeting anyone's gaze. She was distracted by them for a moment, amazed at the thought that those were the people she would be living with very soon. Like the coffin covered with flowers, it didn't seem real at all. It seemed like another universe, an alternate reality.

She let her yellow eyes wander the church, let them fall on different people, watching them for a moment, trying to see if there were people she knew. As she made her way to the back of the church, she froze.

Oh my God.

Her eyes sought out a figure standing in the back of the church, the only visible trait about him was his hair. His purple hair. She felt her body grow cold, her eyes wide. No, this wasn't true; there was no way Aki would be here.

But he was. He was standing right there, and he was looking around, looking for something.

Or someone.

She willed herself to look away, to turn her attention back to where she sat, with Kurama. She gripped his hand, her heart pounding. Maybe he hadn't seen her. Maybe she was imagining things. Maybe he wasn't really there at all. Kurama looked at her now, his expression told her that he was alarmed, wondering why she was acting so oddly all of a sudden. She shook her head quickly, discarding any thoughts he might have had. With a small nod, he returned his gaze back to the church, where the priest had begun talking again. Kana could barely hear what he was saying. She was getting all worked up over nothing, it probably wasn't even Aki at all, and she was imagining things, as always…

She forced herself to look again, and this time he was ready for her. He turned his head, looking directly at her. His eyes, yellow like her own, held hers for what seemed like an eternity. He looked so sad, though. That was the only thing that bothered her. How did he get here? Why?

_I need to speak with you._

No words were spoken, but somehow she knew what he was asking of her. She was frightened, so frightened. How did her brother get here? Why wasn't Deimus in control? Was this a trick?

_Please._

His gaze turned pleading, and his head nodded towards the door, his eyes never leaving her face. Kana couldn't answer. How could she do this?

The priest asked everyone to stand, and Kurama let go of her hand to grab a hymnal, distracted. Kana took this opportunity to get up and sneak her way outside the church to where Aki was. This was crazy, this was insane. Why was she doing this? She had to have lost her mind.

"Aki."

He was standing right there. Hearing her voice, he turned, walking towards her with a relieved expression. He looked so lost, but seeing her, he looked…happy. She steeled herself against him, backing away. At this, he seemed hurt, but he masked it quickly.

"Explain this. All of it." Kana crossed her arms, watching him. He sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"There's no time." He answered quickly, beginning to pace around the soft grass of the church lawn.

"Aki…" her tone grew frustrated, upset. "What's going on? I don't know anything anymore. Where have you been, what have you been doing?" She paused, taking a deep breath. "Why did you kill him?"

The words seemed to hurt him. He winced, sighing. "I had no control. It was out of my hands."

"He was our father!"

Aki eyes narrowed. "He was also the one to do this to me," he said dangerously, shrugging off his suit jacket. Kana knew what he was doing.

"Aki, don't, I don't want to see--," He didn't seem to hear her, he was unbuttoning his shirt quickly, his eyes downcast. "Aki, I mean it, don't make me see it again…"

"Have you forgotten this?" He thrust off his shirt, turning around to reveal his back to her. She shut her eyes hard, turning away, but it was too late. She had already seen. Across the pale skin of his back, the long, jagged scar stood out perfectly, almost as if someone had drawn it on. It was awful. All of a sudden her mind went back to that night, that night she stood hidden behind a corner while her father stood over him with the knife…

"Aki."

"Kana, he was the one who did this to me," he said now, coming closer to her. "We do not forget," he whispered, his eyes narrowing, his voice becoming something darker, stranger. "We remember what he does to us."

Was this really her brother? She stared into his eyes, searching. No. The old Aki was gone. Replaced was a new, angrier Aki. He would never normally act this way.

"You've changed." She answered bitterly, backing away from him. "And it's because of you that I'm leaving this place."

Aki looked surprised, confused.

"The police came, Aki. They came to the apartment. Because they found dad's body in an alleyway, and they needed me to come down to the morgue to identify him." She said. "I'm guessing you had something to do with that," she added bitterly. "Since you were God-knows-where, they assumed you weren't capable of being my legal guardian. Now, they're shipping me off to live with some aunt I've never even met before, and it's all your fault."

Aki ran his hands through his hair, unsure of what to say. "Kana…"

"Maybe I wanted to stay, Aki." She said, looking at him. "Maybe I wanted to live here." She rubbed her eyes hastily, changing the subject before she could get emotional. "They're looking for you, you know." She nodded inside the church, to Kurama and the others, where they would be singing the hymn still. "They told me something interesting. That you're what they'd call a wolf demon."

Aki paused, holding his breath, watching her silently. He didn't respond.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

No answer.

"Aki, why?" She asked again, moving closer to him. He averted his eyes, looking sorrowful. "Aki, we've been through so much. Why couldn't you just tell me something like this?"

"Because I was ashamed," he said sharply, turning to her again. His sudden outburst made her step back a little. "Kana, I was the freak. Dad beat me because he knew. He knew what I was. What I am."

"All this time, I had no idea, and then suddenly I have these people come out of nowhere and tell me that you're some kind of demon. I didn't want to believe them, you know. I mean, nii-chan being a demon? That's something out of a really bad fairytale gone horribly wrong. I thought they were lying, that maybe they were _on_ something." She sighed. "Then I saw him. That night, when you killed him."

"You were never meant to see that," he answered softly.

"But I did!" She said, her voice rose. "I did. Why did this have to be a secret? Why was I kept in the dark for so long about this?"

Aki looked around wildly now, looking alarmed…but about what? "There's too many questions, no time to answer them. Kana, I'm sorry."

"I don't know you anymore," she said, feeling tears begin to fill her eyes. "You've changed. I don't know who you are."

He looked like he was going to break. "Kana, I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen." He sighed, pushing a strand of purple hair out of his eyes. Suddenly his former mood was gone. He grasped her by the shoulder, his eyes narrowing, meeting hers. "Look. I can't stay in this form for too long. I can already feel him beginning to take control. Just--," he broke off, searching for words that would not come. He shook his head, frustrated. "Those friends of yours. Stay away from them. They do not mean good."

"What?" she exclaimed, the first word that came to mind. Did he mean Kurama and everyone else? That was bullshit too. They were her friends, they wouldn't do anything…

"I've got to go," he muttered quickly. He turned to her. "Kana, I'm sorry. Listen to what I've said to you."

"Aki, wait--!" She cried out, one arm stretched out as if to grab him. It was too late. He was already gone.

She stood there for no more than a single moment, wiping the tears from her eyes. Inside the church she could hear the organ's music dying down. The hymns were over. Kurama would realize she was gone. She had to get back…

She started back into the church, giving one last look at the spot where she and Aki had been only moments before, and sighed. Things were going to be changing from now on.

* * *

Kana slipped back into the pew silently, tugging on Kurama's sleeve. He jumped, looking alarmed, but relaxing seeing her.

"Where were you?" He mouthed, looking worried.

"I needed to get some fresh air," she lied, whispering back to him. He paused for a moment, and then nodded, buying her story. She heaved a heavy sigh of relief on the inside, slipping her hand into Kurama's again. The priest was ending a reading. Soon, the memorial service would be over, and then they'd have to go through the whole burial service. The words Aki had said ran through her mind. What did he mean, 'they weren't good'? She looked at Kurama. They weren't evil. They didn't mean any harm.

No. They were just fine.

* * *

It was at least ten or eleven in the morning, and Shiori and Kurama had dropped her off back at her place after the burial service. She shuddered, remembering the coffin, lowering down into the grave so slowly…

Her aunt was there as well, and she saw her wiping her eyes dramatically with a handkerchief, moaning and crying a lot. She wasn't sure if it was for show or not, but something about it bugged her. Her husband had been speaking softly to her, trying to comfort her, and the girl sitting in the pew with them was still quiet as ever, pretending not to know them. Her aunt had seen her, and came over to her, too, while she was outside with Kurama and Shiori…

"_Kana?"_

_She turned, looking at the woman who had given the really long eulogy. "Yes?"_

"_Oh, it IS you Kana! I barely recognized you, you've grown so much!" She cried, wrapping her into a hug. She let go quickly. "Do you have your things all packed? Remember, we're coming tomorrow, and we're not going to be late!" She smiled hugely, this huge grin that showed off her too-white teeth. Her husband was standing next to her, his arm around her. He smiled politely to Kana. "I'd like you to meet my husband, Haruhei." She leaned her head on his shoulder, grinning. "We're very excited about having you live with us." _

"_Oh, um…" Kana had no idea what to say. This woman was talking so much, acting like everything was just great in everyone's lives. All she really needed was one of those sunflower outfits and she'd be all set._

"_Aw, you're shy, huh?" She said, giggling. "Well don't worry. We'll take good care of you, and you're shyness will be gone just like that!" She snapped her fingers for emphasis. She looked past Kana, seeing Kurama and Shiori. "And who is this?"_

"_I'm Shiori, Shuichi's mom." Shiori said, smiling, nodding to Kurama. Her aunt had raised her eyebrows and wiggled them at Kana, and she blushed, embarrassed. Kurama had reached out and shook Haruhei's hand._

"_Well, it's so nice of you to come here. It's been hard on all of us." She paused, sniffling. Her husband nodded sympathetically. "Well!" She continued, brightening. "It was nice meeting you two, and Kana, it was so good seeing you again." She shook Shiori's hand and Kurama's. "Have a good day, Shiru and Soichiro." _

"_Uh, it's Shiori and Shuichi--,"_

"_Yes, yes of course," she laughed, waving her hands in the air, cutting Shiori off. "Remember Kana, we're coming over bright and early, so be sure you're ready!" She smiled, wagging a finger at Kana. "All righty, we've better get going, there's plenty of more guests to thank, you know." And with that, she and her husband ambled off, leaving Kana, Shiori, and Kurama to stare at each other in shock, wondering if that had actually taken place._

"_She seems…" Shiori started, looking for a word._

"…_happy?" Kurama suggested. _

Ugh. It made her sick. She was going to be living with this human chatterbox. She seemed so out of it, so…materialistic, almost. You know, like those girls with platinum blonde hair and huge boobs that guys drool over that end up having an I.Q. of like, ZERO.

She slipped off the dress and the shoes, happy to be rid of them at last. She was going to have to figure out a way to get these back to Keiko…

She changed into a shirt and jeans, sighing. Okay. She had the rest of the day to do something. But what?

She put her hands on her hips, surveying her room, where mostly everything had been neatly packed into suitcases and duffel bags, something that took her the whole week to do correctly. She hung her head, going over to the bed and flopping herself onto it. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it, thinking.

Things were definitely going to be much, much different.

* * *

_Riiing…riiing…_

Damn alarm clock.

_Riiinng…riiing…_

Finally Kana gave up, growling. She hurled the thing across the room, where its ringing ceased abruptly.

Holy crap. It was Sunday.

She was leaving today.

Her eyes widened, feeling an odd sense of coldness fall over her. She clutched the end of her blanket, looking at the alarm clock on the ground. Her aunt said they would be coming 'bright and early'. But what time did that mean? Would she still have time to say goodbye to everyone?

She sighed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she headed into the shower and changed into a shirt and cargo jeans. This was the last time she was going to use the shower, the last time she'd open that closet and pull out some clothes…

Okay. She was getting a little too weird.

Kana opened up the fridge, taking out an orange and beginning to peel it. She leaned against the counter, mumbling to herself. Today was the day. It was odd, but she didn't feel any different. Well…it's not like she was expecting anything huge to happen. But this day had been ominous, something that seemed so far away, so…dangerous, so life-changing. Yet it had come about just like any other day, the sun rising like it had been a gazillion other times.

A bunch of frenzied knocks at the door jerked her out of her thoughts. She had this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was it her aunt already? She didn't even get to say goodbye to everyone yet…

She opened the door and was immediately tackled, something she wasn't ready for. She yelped, caught off-balance. She gripped the edge of the counter to keep herself from falling to the ground by this sudden new weight.

"Kana! You idiot!"

"I-Isuzu?" Kana said, blinking. Shiko was there as well, standing in the doorway and watching Isuzu cling to Kana like a lost child to its mom.

"You're so stupid, Kana! Why didn't you tell us sooner? I had to find out from Urameshi!" She cried, clinging to Kana still. "I even woke up early to make sure I'd get to you in time, and I hate to wake up early. I had to call Shiko's house, too, and it was funny, because, you know, her mom answered, and she sounded kind of pissed that I was calling so early, right Shiko? Wasn't she angry? Ha-ha, you should have heard. We came over at top speed on bicycles, and I haven't ridden a bike since I was five, and I kind of fell a little, see, I've got a few scrapes on my knee here, oh, and one on my elbow, too--,"

"Isuzu," Shiko said, raising her eyebrows. Isuzu paused, then laughed.

"I'm talking too much. Sorry Kana."

"Its okay, it's fine. But how did you--,"

"Find out where your apartment is? Get bikes? Wake up early?" Isuzu threw random questions at her. "Answer to number one: we got the info out of Urameshi, he's a funny kid, Kana, I should talk to him more; number two: I found a bike in my garage, and it's all small and pink and gross and probably from when I was five; number three: the power of my cell phone. It has one of those alarm clock thing-a-ma-jiggers so I set it _realllly_ early and had it play When the Saints Go Marching in, because I hate that song and it's always really loud when it plays on my phone so there was no way I would not hear it."

"O-okay…"

"Oh, and I had a few cups of coffee too, to wake me up a little."

"I can see that," Kana answered, looking at Isuzu oddly. Isuzu let go of her, putting her hands on her hips.

"Are you really leaving, Kana? Was Urameshi telling the truth?"

Kana nodded. "Yeah. I'm leaving when my aunt gets here." She looked down at the ground, feeling sad. It was all too real now.

"That _sucks,_" Isuzu said flatly. "And you, what, just got here, right?" Kana nodded. "Man…" she said, shaking her head. "Poor girl." She sighed. "Anyways, we just came to tell you that we're going to miss you." She said, stretching out her arms. "My 'rents don't know I left yet, so they're probably going to _flip _when they see I'm not home." She grinned. "A little worrying will do 'em good. Come on Shiko, what're you standing there for? Come on. Give Kana a hug, or something."

Shiko came in, and Kana gave her a hug. "I can't believe you guys came here so early."

"We had to. Otherwise, you'd be God-knows-where by now and we'd never see you again without saying goodbye. We'd be sitting in class a few weeks from now going 'now where did that Kana girl go' over and over. It'd be like one of those Unsolved Mysteries thingies that I saw on TV last night…you know, there was some guy last night that disappeared after watching…"

They stayed for about fifteen minutes, then left after each giving Kana a huge bone-crushing embraces. She watched them go, smiling. She barely knew them, but they were so nice to her. She was going to miss them.

It was around seven when the door knocked again. She was hoping it was Kurama and Yusuke and the others, but when she opened the door again, her heart sank. It was her aunt and her husband, Haru-something-or-other.

"Well, sor_ry_," her aunt said, giggling. "Who were you expecting, Alex Trebek?"

"The Jeopardy guy?" Kana asked, raising an eyebrow.

Her aunt shrugged. "I don't know." She sighed, looking into the apartment. "All righty, where's the luggage? We're gonna have Haruhei help us a little with that too."

Kana led them into the apartment, trying not to show her disappointment. Maybe they weren't going to come after all. Maybe they forgot. Maybe…

"Is that all the luggage, dearie?" Her aunt asked, waving a hand in front of Kana's face. "Yoo-hoo, anybody home?" She chuckled at her own joke, holding two duffel bags in one hand. She saw Haruhei struggling with three. She herself had one.

"Um, are you okay, I could take one--," Kana started, talking to Haruhei. He shook his head, smiling.

"I've got it all under control," he said.

"All righty, let's go," her aunt said brightly.

"I've just got to give the keys to the landlord…" Kana trailed off, the keys to the apartment in her hand.

"No problem-o. We'll wait right here. Just don't take too long, we don't have all day, you know." Her aunt said, setting down the duffel bags she carried. Kana hurried down the hall, knocking on the door and handed the keys to the landlord after exchanging a few words with him. She took a deep breath. It was really happening.

She hurried back to her aunt and her husband, grabbing the duffel bag she had dropped before. "All set?" Her aunt asked, picking up her bags as well. Kana hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Okie dokie mokie, let's go. We've got the car parked outside." Kana rubbed her head, hoping she wouldn't get a headache. Between Isuzu and her aunt, there was so much rambling and fast-talking it made her dizzy just trying to follow along with it.

They exited the building, and Haruhei tried his best to get the car keys out without dropping any of the bags. Kana looked around, biting her lip. They really weren't coming, were they? They were just going to let her leave without saying goodbye or anything.

"Got it!" Haruhei cried, unlocking the car. Her aunt went around to the back and opened up the trunk, dumping the bags she carried into it. Haruhei wobbled over there as well, heaving a great sigh of relief as the heavy load was off his shoulders.

"All set, dearie. You ready?"

Her aunt was looking at her. Haruhei had already gotten into the front seat of the car, waiting for them. Kana took a deep breath, stalling…waiting…

Okay, you guys had until the count of three to get here, she thought.

One.

Two.

Two and a fourth.

Two and a half.

Two and three-quarters.

"Damn it! I suck at fractions!" She wailed, kicking a rock that was unfortunately sitting right by her Converse-clad foot. "THREE!"

Nothing.

"Okay," she whispered back finally, and her aunt opened the passenger side and climbed in herself. Kana put her hand on the car door, opening it slowly. Why didn't they come?

"KANA! KANA YOU IDIOT! WE'RE HERE! DON'T LEAVE YET!"

She stopped, feeling a huge grin spread onto her face. She whirled around quickly, seeing Yusuke waving his arms around frantically down the sidewalk. Kuwabara was right behind him, although he looked like he was having a harder time catching up to him.

"Yusuke! Kuwabara!" She cried happily, feeling guilty for ever doubting them. Of course they were going to come. She waited until they caught up. She could see her aunt tapping her fingers on the dashboard, impatient. Oh well, she'd just have to wait, she thought.

"You're leaving already," Yusuke said sadly after he caught up with her. Kana sighed, hanging her head.

"Yeah," she said.

"I'm sorry we're late, but I had a hard time getting Urameshi up. He sleeps like an effing log." Kuwabara explained. "You know how he is, with his snoring and everything."

"I'm telling you, I don't snore!" Yusuke protested, glaring at Kuwabara.

"You do, you know," Kana agreed, siding with Kuwabara. Yusuke threw his hands up in the air, rolling his eyes.

"Hurry up and say good bye to your little friends, Kana," her aunt interrupted, poking her head out the window, "we don't have all day."

Yusuke raised his eyebrows, putting his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, chill out, lady," he said to her aunt, who sighed and drew her head back into the car. He clucked his tongue, shaking his head. "Manners, manners," he said.

"So…I guess this is goodbye?" Kana said, looking at them. She realized something was missing. Where was Kurama?

"I guess so, Kana," Kuwabara said with a heavy sigh. "You were really cool. But don't worry; we'll come up and visit you sometime. Or, you come and visit us."

Kana nodded. "Definitely."

"Don't feel too bad, though," Yusuke said. "I have a feeling we're going to see each other again whether we'd want to or not." He grinned at her.

Kana gave him a hug, catching him off-guard. "I'm gonna miss you," she said, feeling tears rise into her throat. "Damn it," she said, letting go. She wiped her eyes quickly. "I hate goodbyes." She smiled sheepishly, turning to hug Kuwabara. "I'm gonna miss you too," she said to him.

"Stay cool, Kana," Yusuke said, winking at her. Kuwabara gave her the thumbs up. She smiled back at them.

"Oh, wait," she said, remembering something. She opened the trunk and opened a suitcase, handing Yusuke Keiko's dress and shoes that she had lent her for the funeral.

"I don't think this is my size," Yusuke said, looking down at the dress and shoes quizzically. Kana laughed.

"No, silly, that's the things Keiko lent me. You gotta give it back to her for me, since I couldn't. Tell her I said a huge thank you, okay?" She watched as Yusuke agreed, then sighed. "I guess I'd better be going," she said, nodding to the car. Yusuke and Kuwabara watched her sadly as she opened the door and got inside. Kurama never said goodbye to her, she realized. Where was he?

"Are you ready now?" Her aunt said, swiveling in her seat to look at her. Kana looked at Yusuke and Kuwabara from the window, sighing heavily.

"I--," she began, but stopped. Out the window, she saw the all-too-familiar redheaded wonder come up the sidewalk. His mouth was open, his eyes wide. He must have thought that he was too late. "No. Wait." She said, unclipping her seatbelt quickly.

"What is it NOW?" Her aunt cried, exasperated. Kana ignored her, and threw open the door, making a mad dash towards Kurama.

_Sweet darling, you worry too much_

"I thought you weren't coming!" She cried as she neared him. She took a running leap into his arms, and he held her tightly, sighing in relief.

_My child_

"I thought I was too late," he said into her ear. "I thought I missed you."

_See the sadness in your eyes_

"No," she whispered, not stopping the huge grin on her face. "You came right on time." He gripped her even more tightly, but careful not to hurt her.

_You are not alone in life_

"Be safe," he whispered into her ear, stroking her hair.

_Although you might think that you are_

"I will," she promised, trying to stop the tears from coming. A car honk interrupted their moment. Kana drew away from him, embarrassed. Her aunt was waving at them, pointing to the watch on her wrist. She turned back to Kurama, feeling tears rise in her eyes. "Kurama…"

_So sorry your world is tumbling down_

"It's okay," he assured her, pulling her back into an embrace. "We'll see you soon."

_I will watch you through these nights_

"Promise?"

"I promise."

_Rest your head, and go to sleep_

Kana finally pulled apart from him, walking back slowly to the car. She rubbed her eyes, wiping away tears. She opened the car door, and then hesitated, looking back at Kurama, then to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Thank you, you guys," she whispered, then climbed in, shutting the door behind her. Her aunt sighed impatiently, but she ignored it. Haruhei started the car. She pressed her forehead against the glass as Haruhei pulled out of the parking lot, waving at the friends she was now leaving behind.

_Because my child, this is not our farewell_

She watched them, as their forms became smaller and smaller, as the car drove farther and farther away.

"They were good friends of yours, huh?" Haruhei said quietly, looking at her through the rearview mirror. Kana smiled, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah."

_This is not our farewell._


	16. Chapter 16

_Rei says:  
_This chapter was too easy.  
Well, sort of.  
When I put up the last one, I immediately went to work on this one, and finished. But then I thought that what I had was completely stupid, so then the next day I erased the last five pages and started again. It was a lot better, and it turned out really awesome. Youko makes his debut two-second appearance! I know a bunch of you will be happy about that. ) Aaand, I introduced (yet another) new character. He's adorable, and I'm attached to him already. Unlike Isuzu and Shiko, there really IS a real reason he's in this story. …So, all in all it took me two days to finish this one as well. I only waited because I'm evil and I wanted to make you people hang on the edge a little. Not that the last chapter ended on a cliffhanger, so to speak…but…Ah, damn, I don't know what I'm saying. My editor-man Mike pointed this out to me, and I realized it was really true: the last chapter really could have been the last chapter. It had that ending sort of feel to it. Don't worry, I don't this story will end for a while.

The only thing I'm unsure of now is how to make Youko act. He's a total arrogant bastard-sort of person, and I'm not sure I can portray it correctly. If anyone has any ideas of how Youko and Deimus should interact with each other for the next chapter, please, **email me.** I would really appreciate it because I'm kind of stuck here.

A random question: does anyone know where I can find Gravitation songs for download? By Gravitation songs, I mean the ones not featured in the anime, like the ones in the "vocal collections" or whatever. I want to put them on my iPod. I mean songs like Wish Matrix, or Sweet Sweet Samba…I've been searching for days now, and it's getting me annoyed. I posted a request for them on this one website, but so far no one's filled it. So I thought I'd ask you guys, because you guys all have magical powers like that. If you know, **email me**. You will be loved forever and ever. ;)

Rei is looking for more reviews because she is a greedy child. Grant her wish.  
-cough- Anyways. The next chapter, I'll do that mention-y things I did way back in chapter thirteen. I promise.

**THANK YOU TO:**  
xxDream Theaterxx, 14thShrineMaiden, RyokoOfTheDarknessRising, zetsumei, Koji Jaganshi, Hanariko (your review made me feel so loved! Thank you!) Konane Shadow Wolf, MikoHatome, and Mike for reviewing! I love you guys.

(I have to find a way to get myself to shut up in this part. I talk and ramble on too much. I apologize if it bothers you).

AND NOW ONTO ZEE CHAPTER!

* * *

Chapter 16

"Kana, where are you?" her aunt's screechy voice reached her room, where Kana was sitting on her bed, reading.

"I'm up here!" She called back, and waited for an answer.

"Take out the trash, will ya?"

_Figures. _"Fine!" She called back, slamming her book shut and placing it on the nightstand. She hopped off her bed, pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail before bounding down the stairs.

She had already been here for two weeks, and she still hadn't gotten used to her aunt's attitude. She was probably the perkiest person she'd ever met. And she wasn't just on caffeine high. Just picture Isuzu, the way she was two weeks ago when she and Shiko had came to her apartment. All the fast-talking, the conversations that just led from one thing to another, it was all just crazy. The scary thing was that she was getting used to it. Her uncle was harder to figure out. He worked at home, meaning that he was home all day working. He was quiet as a mouse; Kana hardly realized her was in the house until he dinner or lunch time came around. But there was something really weird about him. The way he acted, so reclusive, he seemed the total opposite of her aunt. It was a strange pairing, she had to admit. The girl Kana had seen at the funeral was their daughter, Ayamu, who was three years older than her, Aki's age. She didn't see her much; she was usually locked up in her room. When she did see her, though, she barely talked, nor did she make any eye contact. She had gotten a few phone calls from Isuzu and Shiko, (how they found her phone number she'll never know) but because of her aunt they couldn't talk for very long (something about long-distance charges). However, she did not hear from Yusuke, Kuwabara, or Kurama. It made her a little sad.

She stopped at the end of the stairs, looking at her aunt, who was looking at her with the weirdest expression. "What?" she asked, looking down at herself. Was there a stain on her shirt or something?

Her aunt blinked, snapping out of her strange trance-like state. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Your eyes," she said, stepping closer to view them better. "They're just like your mother's, you know."

"My mother had blue eyes," Kana said, looking at her weirdly. Her aunt blinked again, rubbing the back of her head.

"Of course she did," she said distantly. Kana raised her eyebrows quizzically. "Take out the trash," her aunt repeated. "I've got some work to do." She shot Kana a brilliant white happy smile, placed her hands on her hips, and turned away, making her way into the kitchen.

Kana rolled her eyes when she was sure her aunt wasn't looking and grabbed the two black garbage bags waiting for her by the doorway. She hoisted them over her shoulder like Santa Claus would with his sack of toys and opened the door and headed down to the garbage dump.

There was something about this town that they lived in that bothered her. It was a really nice town, really expensive to live in, but something about it unnerved her. All the houses looked the same. It looked like there were rows upon rows of the same gray and white houses, with the same birch tree out front and the same driveway and walkway up to the same front door, a bright white one with a peephole. Not to mention it was an hour away from where she had previously lived, in that apartment, an hour away from the friends she had made. She sighed angrily, shifting a bag onto her other shoulder. This town sucked.

She opened the gate to the garbage dump, going to set the two bags down.

"What's a fair maiden like you doing taking out the stinky old garbage?"

Kana looked up, hearing a strange voice, but seeing no one. "Who's there?" she called, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Hey, chill out, I mean no harm." A boy appeared on the top of the wall that bordered the dump. Kana peered closer, trying to get a better look.

He looked young. His skin was lightly tanned and he had bright blue eyes. But his hair…

"Why's your hair silver?"

The boy jumped down, grinning. "I was born with it. Cool, huh?" His hair really was silver. It went down to right below his ears and fell into his eyes a little. It was lightly ruffled from the soft wind.

Kana grabbed a strand, tugging on it as if making sure it was real. "Whoa," she said, continuing to tug on it. The boy stepped back, laughing.

"Don't yank out my hair, now," he said, putting his arms up in surrender. "Although, I bet you could make a fortune on eBay if you decided to sell a strand."

"Who are you? And what's with the weird outfit?"

The boy looked down at his clothing. He wore leather gloves and clunky lace-up boots with pants that cut off at the knee. He wore a shirt with a smiley face that looked like a kindergartener had drawn it on, and a black cross dangled around his neck on a chain. He looked like some crazed cosplayer or something. "You don't like it?" he pouted.

"It's…different."

"_I_ like it." He said, twirling around and peering down at himself. Suddenly his eyebrows rose. "Oh! How silly of me. I forgot to introduce myself." He puffed out his chest, putting his hands on his waist, trying to make himself look like a superhero. "The name's Kuga," he said proudly. "What is yours, fair maiden?"

"Okay, for one, I am not a 'fair maiden'." Kana scoffed. "I'm Kana."

Kuga tapped his chin with a finger, as if pondering the name. "Kana, hmm…" he paused, then looked at her, his face brightening. "I like it. Kana. Kana." He grabbed a hold of the name and started repeating it over and over. "KanaKanaKana--,"

"Okay, you can stop now," she laughed.

"That is a nice name," he mused. "So what is the fair maiden Kana doing taking out the trash?" Kuga asked, cocking his head to one side.

"My aunt told me to," she said lamely. She rolled her eyes.

"Your aunt?"

"I'm living with my aunt," she explained. "I'm not going into the gory details." She squinted at him. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen!"

Her eyes widened. "Really?" He didn't even look sixteen. If anything, he looked a lot younger. "You're older than me," she said.

"Ha-ha, really? Cool," he said, flashing the thumbs-up sign, revealing a bracelet that had previously been hidden by one of his leather gloves. Kana had the strangest feeling that she had seen it before.

"Hey, can I see that?" She asked, motioning to the bracelet on his wrist. He looked down, then back at her, somewhat confused.

"I think I have to go," he said, looking guilty. "Farewell, fair maiden!"

"Hey, wait--," Kana started, but he had already hopped over the wall and bounded out of sight. That was weird. Really weird.

* * *

"What took you so long, dear?" Her aunt said concernedly as Kana shut the door behind her. "You were gone awhile." 

"Talking to the neighbors," she said distantly. "Did anyone call?"

Her aunt had already started to head into the laundry room."Not that I know of," she called over her shoulder. "The phone rang once, I think, but Haruhei got it. I guess it was a business call." Kana shook her head, disappointed, starting up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, she almost bumped into Ayamu. "Hey," Kana said politely. Ayamu barely looked at her. She ignored her and headed down the stairs slowly. Kana sighed, opening the door to her room and shutting it behind her.

She flopped onto her bed, which was bigger and more comfy than she was used to. She clutched a pillow, sighing. Change sucks. She wanted to go back to the old crappy apartment she had lived in only one week ago.

"Why haven't you guys called yet?" She asked to the emptiness of her room.

LIIIIIIIIIIINE

It was a few hours later. "Kana! Come down for dinner!" Her aunt screeched, and Kana winced, hearing her voice. She had been daydreaming, and hearing her voice brought her back into reality, a reality where she lived in a strange new house with three strange new people…each one more different than the rest.

She sighed, running her hands through her hair before launching off the edge of her bed and heading down the stairs.

"It's about time you got here," her aunt said, smiling good-naturedly. She handed her a plate. "We ordered take-out, I hope you don't mind," Kana obediently took a seat next to her uncle and waited as her aunt piled on steamed dumplings and other foods onto her plate. "Here you go, dear," she said finally, handing the plate back to her.

Ayamu was sitting across from her, her eyes cast downwards at her plate as she slowly ate. "Thanks," she mumbled to her mom, who smiled at her.

"So, Kana, who was the neighbor you were talking to?" Her aunt said, trying to start up a conversation. Her uncle turned to her, interested.

"Was it Okizuka? Reiko? Seita? " he said, spewing out random names. Kana shook her head.

"He said his name was Kuga," she said, and at the mention of the name, Ayamu's head snapped up, narrowing her eyes at Kana. "Do you know him?" she asked Ayamu. She saw her aunt and her uncle exchange worried glances. What the hell was going on?

"Not really," Ayamu answered, lifting a spoonful of rice and soy sauce and putting it into her mouth. When she swallowed, she continued, "He's a freak. I remember him from high school."

"Stay away from him," her uncle warned, nodding at her from where he sat. Kana looked at him, confused.

"He didn't seem so dangerous. What's the deal?" Kana asked, looking at them.

"His family is no good," her uncle said, taking a sip of water. "We don't mingle with the likes of people like them."

Kana's mouth fell open. Okay, so the dude was pretty funky, but _this? _This was just weird. Like everything lately. She shook her head, eating a few more bites of her food.

"Kana, why don't you try making friends with the Jiruna family? Their kids are really nice. Their mother is really nice," her aunt suggested, eating some more.

"It's time you make some normal friends," her uncle intervened.

"What do you mean, 'normal'?" Kana asked, putting down her fork.

Her aunt sighed. "Haru…"

Her uncle shook his head at her, lifting a hand up as if to tell her to stop. "The people I met two weeks ago when we picked you up…"

"What about them?"

"I just think they aren't the kind of people you should be hanging out with," her uncle said dismissively. "From what I saw of them, they didn't seem to have any manners. That one boy with the black hair told your aunt to 'chill out'," and as he said that, he shook his head disgustedly as if it were a curse word.

"But I liked that woman, what was her name, Shirun, or something…" Her aunt said, joining Kana's side. "They were nice people. They came to the funeral," she added, nodding.

"It was Shiori," Kana said, narrowing her eyes. Her uncle didn't know anything about them, so why was she making these inferences about them? It was unfair. "And they aren't bad people."

"I did not say that," her uncle interrupted sharply. Kana sighed, defeated.

"Look, they're really nice people. They may be a little different, but you have no right to tell me that I should stop seeing them!"

"Have they even called you since you got here?"

Kana stopped, looking at her uncle. There was something about the look on his face that she didn't like. He was acting smug. Kana looked down. "No," she mumbled.

"Well then, it's obvious they want nothing to do with you anymore," he concluded, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal. The words struck Kana like a blow.

"Haru! That's enough!" Her aunt said, her mouth dropping open at his harsh words.

"That's not true!" Kana shouted, pushing her chair back. She stood up. "You don't know anything," she said, and ran up the stairs to her room.

* * *

Kurama set the phone down again, sighing. Every time he tried to call her, her uncle picked up and said she wasn't there. So where could she be? What was she doing? She didn't even try to call here, and he made sure he gave her his number. 

He ran his hands through his fiery red locks, sitting down on the edge of his bed. Shiori had said it was no big deal - she would end up calling sooner or later. She knew now of what he felt for her.

But what did he feel?

He couldn't even answer that. It was confusing. It was also something he'd rather not dwell on for too long.

He stood up, pacing his room. The best answer would be to just go over there and visit her. That was normal, right? There's nothing wrong with that. In his mind he ran over their goodbye, the embrace they shared. A smile came to his lips and he sighed.

Yusuke and Kuwabara had said that every time they tried to call her uncle had said she wasn't home either. Was there a pattern here?

No. That was ridiculous. Her uncle had seemed like a nice person. Although he didn't speak much when he met him at the funeral, he didn't seem like that kind of person. There was no reason to, anyways. He sat down on his bed, falling over on his back and placing his hands behind his head, thinking.

It had already been two weeks. But it was two weeks where nothing happened. Ever since she left, it seemed like nothing eventful happened. Life went on, as always. School went by without anything out of the ordinary. Of course. That was expected. But still…it was different. She had only been here for two months, really, and she had changed things so much. Now that she was gone, the normalcy was unnerving. Boring. Stupid. Pointless. And he knew he wasn't the only who felt that way. Yusuke and Kuwabara had been going around quieter than usual, and it was strange, even for them.

He closed his eyes. She had changed things so much. Did she even realize?

* * *

Kana clutched a pillow to her face, trying to stop herself from crying. It was stupid…what her uncle said wasn't true, but still, it bothered her so much that she couldn't help but think it was true after all. "It's not true," she mumbled to herself, trying to convince herself. But the look on her uncle's face…he looked so sure of himself, she couldn't help but think that something was up, that he knew something she didn't. 

_Kurama…_

Not even he tried to call. Not Yusuke, not Kuwabara, no one. Even Isuzu and Shiko hadn't called since the day after she got here. It was all strange, all different.

She should never have come here. Now everything sucked. Everything changed. And you know what? Change sucks. She should have put her foot down to those damn policemen, stood up and spoke out against authority for a change.

She growled to herself, wiping her eyes furiously. She never used to cry so much. Years upon years living with Aki and her father made her cold to tears. After crying so much early on, they just seemed to dry up, you know? Like there were no more tears left for the future. That was wrong as hell now, though. Suddenly all this crap of demons and moving away and complications and friendships made her tear really easily now.

A knock on her door interfered with her thoughts. "Go away," she mumbled, flipping over on her side. The door creaked open, and Kana growled with impatience. "I said go away," she repeated.

"Chill out." By the sound of the voice, Kana knew it was Ayamu. She sat up, surprised, wiping her eyes. "It's me."

"Ayamu?"

"Yeah," she said, pushing a strand of her muddy-red colored hair out of her eyes. "You know, you really got to them. Mom's downstairs yelling at dad now for what he said to you. Kudos."

"I didn't mean to start a fight, it's just--,"

"What dad said about your friends really got to ya, right?" She waited for Kana to nod slowly, then she crossed her arms. "I knew it."

Kana looked down, exasperated. "It really got to me, because he didn't know them like I did, you know?" she looked up at Ayamu. "But then that whole comment about them not calling…"

"That was bad, even for him," Ayamu agreed. She sat down at the edge of Kana's bed. "I don't know what's going on with him. Ever since you got here, he's been more quiet than usual. It's really starting to bug me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's strange." Ayamu said, shaking her head. "I don't get it myself. I've been trying to figure it out what it is exactly."

Kana growled to herself, pushing her hair back. "He seemed really okay at the funeral. But now, it's like…"

"…you don't think you guessed his personality or something correctly."

Kana furrowed her brows, thinking, then sighed. "I'm so confused." She wailed, flopping backwards on the bed. She cracked open one eye and looked at Ayamu. "You know, this is the most I've ever heard you say ever since I got here."

Ayamu grinned. "I'm a girl of few words, most of the time. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It's not your fault or anything. And I wasn't ignoring you."

Kana sighed, as if that were something that had been bothering her. "That's good to know," she answered. "For a while, I thought you were mad about something."

"Nah," she said, waving it off. "I just don't like to communicate much, I suppose. Mom's always bugged me about that too."

"I see," Kana see, rolling her head to one side so she could see her better.

"Hey, didn't you have a brother?"

Kana stiffened. "Yeah," she answered guardedly. "He's not coming here."

"Too bad," Ayamu said, cracking her fingers. "If he's anything like you, I'd have loved to have met him."

At this Kana smiled. "You're not as bad as I thought," she said to Ayamu. "Not that I thought you were bad or anything, but…yeah."

Ayamu grinned back, patting Kana's leg. "Come on. Stop crying and whining. I'll take you to my room if you want. Ever read yaoi before?"

* * *

"Is this what you do all day?" Kana asked, motioning to the book she was holding. Yaoi, she called it. She had to admit, she never read anything like it before. It was…hardcore. 

"Not really." Ayamu said, swinging around in the chair she sat in to look at her. "It's something, though. Haven't you ever read yaoi?"

"Nope," Kana said, flipping through the book. She raised her eyebrows at one particular, erotic-looking scene, then quickly flipped back to the front of the book, handing it back to her, her eyes wide, as if she had seen something that maybe she really shouldn't have.

"Your face is priceless right now," Ayamu chuckled. "Not one for yaoi, eh?" she placed the book back onto the shelf. "That's all right. You will someday."

"Riiight," Kana said, looking around at the room. "Your room is nice," she mused absently. Ayamu turned slightly to look at her.

"I guess," she said, shrugging one shoulder. She stifled a yawn, suddenly feeling tired. What time was it, anyways?

"Eight," Ayamu said, as if reading her mind. She swung back around in the chair to face her. "It's eight o' clock, exactly."

"Ah…" Kana flopped backwards onto Ayamu's bed. Somehow, the actions of today had drained her, although they didn't seem that way. She closed her eyes, stretching her arms. "All right," she concluded to herself, getting up from the bed, "I'm going to bed."

Ayamu raised her eyebrows. "This early? But The Office is on tonight; don't you want to watch it with me?" She faked the puppy-dog-eye expression, her lower lip sticking out in a fake pout. Kana smiled, shaking her head.

"I'm tired," she said. Ayamu sighed, agreeing.

"Okay, fine, but next time you're watching it with me," she said, and said 'goodnight' to Kana as she left her bedroom.

* * *

Kana yawned, successfully changed into her pajamas, and fell onto her bed, suddenly exhausted. She never used to go to bed this early. But there was no reason to stay awake, no Yusuke to come barging in with board games to keep her up anyhow, and she was tired. 

She brought the covers up over her head and curled up, feeling her eyelids get heavier and heavier until she finally drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Kana's eyes snapped open, brought out of her nice sleep suddenly. There was a sound, but she couldn't quite make it out. It woke her up. She looked around the room slowly, her mind still hazy from sleep, still tucked nicely in her bed. Nothing, as far as she could see. But the sound grew louder. Abruptly, she sat up in bed, on high alert. Her heart beat erratically in her chest, eyes wide. She knew that sound. Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone, but it scared her. 

It was a scream.

It was soft, a low voice, but it grew and grew until it was this loud, haunting, torturous sound, ringing in her ears, stopping suddenly. She knew why it scared her so much. She knew that voice; she knew who it was that was screaming.

_Kurama. _

Kana clutched the edge of her blanket, feeling chilled. It wasn't real. She was only imagining it, she knew that. It was a fragment left over from her dream…or something. It was definitely not real. Kurama wasn't in any danger. He wouldn't be screaming. He never seemed like the screaming type anyways.

The red blinking numbers on the clock flashed midnight. She groaned, falling back onto her pillow. She couldn't get back to sleep now. That scream, that sound, it scared her. And it was going to keep her awake.

A thump from somewhere downstairs sent shooting up in her bed, watching the bedroom door as if it were something dangerous, something tricky and sneaky that might pull something on her. What was that? What caused the thump?

"I feel so stupid," she mumbled to herself, bringing the covers over her shoulder as she closed her eyes, trying to sleep. Forget it. Just, forget everything she heard. It was all her imagination. Her twisted, freaky imagination. She shut her eyes hard, willing herself to sleep.

"Stupid? Not quite," said a melodic male voice. Oh shit. She knew that voice. She was dreaming this, too. She opened her eyes slowly, her yellow eyes meeting amethyst. She gasped, pulling away. No. This wasn't a dream…

She tumbled off the other side of the bed, bringing herself to her feet. She held out one arm, as if to keep him away. He chuckled, not moving.

"Hello dear. Did you miss me?" He asked, smiling, revealing his fangs. They glittered dangerously in the light of the moon that poured through the window. Kana was in full-panic mode. How the hell did he get here? How did he know where she was? Okay. Deep breaths. She was dreaming. She was still sleeping. Kana bit her lip, pinching her arm.

"It's not a dream," Deimus crooned, coming closer. Kana opened her eyes, looking around frantically for some way to escape. "Come on now, love, do you really mean to run away from me?"

"Yes," she said, glaring at him. Her heart was pounding crazily in her chest, but she brought herself to look him in the eye.

"Aw," he said, faking sadness. "You were always so headstrong," he said, looking distant all of a sudden. Kana furrowed her brows. What the hell was this nutcase talking about? He stopped, his gaze turning cold. "You know you can't go anywhere," he whispered. "Your little friends aren't here to protect you." Kana felt a sinking desperation in her stomach. He was right. He was right, and he knew that. She even knew that. "So make this easier on you, dear, and just come with me willingly."

"No," she answered, trying to find something she could use to get out of here. Her eyes fell on a curtain rod, propped up against the wall. They had meant to put up the curtains for the window in her room, but they hadn't done so yet. If she could somehow get over there…

"It's been a long time since I've seen you," Deimus said, cocking his head to one side, watching her. "So tell me, how did you get yourself over here?" He grinned, as if he knew something. He started walking slowly, and Kana went the opposite direction. They were now walking dangerous circles around each other, one eyeing the other warily.

Kana didn't answer. Deimus suddenly closed the gap between them in no time at all. She smelled his heavy scent of blood and lavenders, backing up against the wall. She bit her lip, holding her breath. He leaned in closer; his face was now underneath her neck, inhaling her scent. He grinned, and Kana felt the cool metal of the curtain rod in her grip. She couldn't stop her heart from beating so quickly. She closed her eyes, as if that would make him go away.

"Dear…" he whispered enticingly. "Come with me. You will receive more than anything these people could ever give you. Be my queen. Become one with me."

"Deimus."

This word, his name, seemed to have cast a spell on him. His head snapped up, watching her with widened eyes. Kana took this and gained courage from it, nodding and grinning with satisfaction.

"That's your name, isn't it? Deimus." Right now she was playing with fire, dangerous fire, and she was definitely going to get burned if she didn't play her cards right. Deimus was watching her now, intently, as if suddenly seeing her in a whole new light. "You think you know me, right? You think you 'love' me?" Kana gripped the rod, biting the insides of her cheek so hard she tasted blood in her mouth. "If you really did, you know I would _never _go with you," she said savagely, bringing the rod down over his head with all her strength, making a satisfying cracking noise. He snarled, drawing away from her, both hands on his head. She held the rod in her hands, watching Deimus in disbelief. She had really done it. "Find a different queen. This one's not interested."

"You--," he started, his head snapped up to meet her eyes, angry. She didn't wait any longer. She threw open the bedroom door, running down the stairs so fast it seemed like she was flying. She didn't look back. She didn't have to. She knew she had little time before he started the chase. She opened the front door, running out into the night. There was no other way to go.

She ran without any direction, no idea where to go. This place was still alien to her; she had nowhere to run to. Her bare feet pounded against the cool pavement.

"Where are you running?" Deimus's voice reached her, laughing, mocking her. He was catching up. _Oh shit…don't let him get me,_ she pleaded, her hands gripping the curtain rod like a sword. She kept running. "You're making this so hard on yourself, love," he said.

There was no one here. There was no one to help her now. She was all alone in this one, wasn't she? Kana swallowed, feeling fear clutch at her heart, strangling her. Oh God, oh God...her mind was racing, her feet were keeping her running blindly, hardly even thinking about it. Suddenly everything scared her. The houses, as she ran past them, all looked exactly the same, making her feel like she was running in place, not getting anywhere at all, although it was far from the truth. She ran faster than she ever had in her entire life, not daring to look back.

"You're so amusing," he continued, his voice low and rough. It sounded like he was speaking right into her ear. She gasped, turning sharply. She stumbled, but got her bearings before she could fall. She kept on running, her bare feet starting to hurt her now. "I made a good choice in choosing you," he said, sounding closer than ever.

Damn it, damn it, damn it…she couldn't run any more. She was gasping for breath, her feet were killing her, but she wouldn't stop. Her lungs were aching. He was still right behind her, driving her on. Fear made her insane. She couldn't stop, no, not while he was right behind her like this…

She had to keep moving forward.

"You're fast," he said, his voice seeming to come from all sides now. "You're faster than any other I've given chase to, I'll give you that." He licked his lips. "I like that."

She couldn't run anymore. Kana willed herself to keep going, but it was no use. Her legs threatened to give way; she could feel her lungs were burning. Her mind was hazy, she could no longer think straight. She cried out, tripping and falling onto the grass, wet from the dew. She lay there, gasping for breath, Deimus approaching her slowly, like a wild cat advancing on his wounded prey. Tears of frustration filled her eyes as she gripped the curtain rod. She was exhausted, she could barely move anymore. He had her now. There was no one coming, no one was going to save her now.

He came closer, reaching out with a pale hand to touch her chin. He lifted up her face to meet his. "Do this quietly and without any fuss, and I may forget your little trick you pulled back there." His amethyst eyes flashed angrily, holding her suspended, unable to move. "Good girl," he praised. "Now be still, this will take a moment," he said, turning to do something.

Kana whimpered, desperation overcoming her. This was it. This was the end; there was nothing else to it. She was going to go with him, she had no choice now, there was no one coming to save her. She was too far away from her friends, from the people that may have stood a chance against him. He turned back to her, his eyes questioning.

"What is it, love?" he asked, coming closer to her. He traced the outline of her face with a single finger, sending chills down her spine the same way he had done that time he had found her in her own apartment, that day so long ago. Only that day, Kurama had been there to stop him from doing anything to her. Now, there was no one. She was powerless in his hold. "What is it that bothers you? I sense it in your eyes. You saw your brother already, what more could you need?" He smirked, looking at her now for her reaction.

Kana turned away, not looking at him. He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "Oh, my dear…" he said, smiling at her stubbornness. "Don't be that way, it'll all—,"

He had no chance to finish speaking. Suddenly she heard him curse, snarling, leaping away. She turned back around, seeing a white figure holding a whip of what appeared to be made of thorns. That weapon had made a long incision on Deimus's right arm. He had long silvery-white hair, wearing a white robe-like outfit. His skin looked to be paler than hers. He appeared to glow in the dark; in the moonlight he seemed ghost-like. She had to be dreaming, she knew it. Because on his ears there were two white ears, two white fox ears. He had a tail. A tail! She stared up in disbelief from where she sat; splayed out across the grass, up at the fox-man who had come to her rescue.

"Youko," Deimus said guardedly, licking the blood off of his arm. "The legendary bandit. How nice to finally meet you."


	17. Chapter 17

Just so you know - when the font goes italic, then bold, it's a conversation between Youko and Kurama himself. Just thought you might want to know. ;)

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT- **

**I recently found out that someone has been using this story and calling it their own (the user Hiei13, and her story 'Inside Out'), only changing a few words and the name of the main character. Until this is sorted out, this story won't be updated for a while. I am really upset right now.I was thinking of deleting the story,but I guess that is going too far.**

**Thank you for understanding.**

* * *

Chapter 17 

Youko.

So that was his name. Kana ran the name over and over in her mind; as if afraid she might forget it. He wasn't paying any attention to her; he was more focused on the target: Deimus. For a while, she sat there on the grass, catching her breath. She had no idea how long she had been running, but it felt like she had been running for hours. She was about to hack up a lung any minute, she just knew it. Kana wouldn't dare take her eyes off the two beings that stood before her. She could just feel the electricity coursing through the air between them, making her uneasy.

"Flattered," the fox-man known as Youko said, rolling his eyes as if bored. Kana paid close attention to him, to his voice. It was deep, richer than Deimus's. She could just feel the authority he held in his tone. "Deimus."

Deimus raised his eyebrows. "I have to admit, I'm surprised." Youko narrowed his eyes, smirking. "Now if you'll please," he motioned for Youko to step aside, to let him get to Kana. "You're in the way."

"I cannot do that," he said threateningly.

Deimus chuckled. "She is mine," he said, returning his arm to his side.

"We'll see about that," he answered, and launched himself into the air. Without waiting, Deimus followed suit, a silent agreement to the battle about to take place. Kana's eyes widened, trying to see if she could spot them up in the air. She leaped to her feet, grabbing the curtain rod that lay neglected on the dewy grass a few ways off from where she had sat. She didn't know why this fox-man was protecting her, but she was glad he was.

There were frenzied sounds of clanging, of a battle that raged in the sky which Kana could not see. Where were they? Who was winning? She held her breath. The sounds ceased, and first Deimus came down, as if falling from the heavens. He landed onto the ground effortlessly, and Kana saw the wounds that crisscrossed his body. There were few, but he was breathing heavily already. His breath came in little puffs in the chilly night air.

Not long after, Youko came down as well, with about as much effort as Deimus had used. He grinned, wiping blood off of his cheek. His whip lashed at the ground, beckoning him to come closer. Deimus answered, raising his blade and lunging at him, his mouth contorted in a strange battle-cry.

Deimus struck first. Youko drew back slightly, the whip raised in time to deflect the blow. How the whip deflected his blade like that, Kana had no idea. The whip looked weak in comparison to Deimus's blade, flashing dangerously in the light of the moon that hung suspended over them. Youko was calm, cool and collected, nothing like Deimus, who was fighting recklessly, enjoying every minute of it. He was laughing, _laughing_, striking at Youko time and time again. Youko deflected the blows with what seemed like little effort.

And then, just like that, he was gone.

Youko paused, searching the night with his golden eyes for any trace of where Deimus might have gone. He was greeted only with silence. After a few moments of standing stock-still, he turned slightly, looking at Kana.

"Are you—,"

Kana gasped. "Watch out!" she cried, pointing to a figure behind Youko. Deimus was slowly emerging from the dark, his amethyst eyes glittering menacingly as his blade slid into view. Youko stiffened, his eyes widening. He ducked, dodging out of Deimus's reach, managing to escape with only a cut on his upper shoulder. It already started to drip blood as he reassembled himself a ways off from the wolf demon, gripping his whip.

"You got me." He said, his eyes boring into Deimus's, who only grinned back cockily at him. "I'm surprised." Youko lifted an eyebrow slowly, watching Deimus, who was now tightening his hold on the hilt of his sword. "You still want more? I can assure you that the outcome will not be in your favor."

"Stop the talk; you're wasting your breath," Deimus retorted, his tone held something dark in it. Kana froze, unable to keep her eyes off the two.

"It appears so," he answered, leaping into the air, his whip lashed out at the wolf demon. He snarled, raising his blade to deflect the blow, but it was too late. The whip had left a long incision across his chest. He staggered away, glaring at Youko; his sword raised protectively, one hand clutching the spot where he had been injured. Youko smirked, sensing his weakness now, and leaped out of view, appearing right behind him. His whip struck out again, and Deimus cried out, spinning around in anger to affect his attacker. The shirt he wore had already become ripped and torn from Youko's strikes. Kana could see now that he would not hold out against Youko for too long. Youko raised a foot lazily, as if bored, and pushed Deimus onto the ground, pressing his foot into the small of his back.

"You put up a good fight," he said, smiling thinly, "but you lost. Surrender." Kana's eyes locked onto Deimus's back, where she saw something she had not expected to see. Aki's scar. The long jagged scar appeared on Deimus's back as well, and upon seeing it, Kana felt her heart wrench.

"Aki…" she whispered under her breath, finding herself unable to move. Youko lifted up his whip, ready to strike the final blow. "No--!" Kana cried, getting up and running over to Youko. He paused, looking at her oddly, as if confused. She grabbed his arm. "Don't," she pleaded, looking into his eyes. She felt a shiver run down her spine. His eyes…they were different. His eyes held something unknown, dark, something scary.

He had the eyes of a murderer.

She drew back slightly, startled. Youko snarled, kicking Deimus aside, stalking off in a different direction. Kana paused, surprised by what she had done. What was she thinking…?

Deimus got up slowly, putting his blade back into his sheath. He looked at her, meeting her eyes. She stifled a gasp. One of his eyes was amethyst, but the other…the other was yellow.

"I'm coming back for you," he said, and it wasn't just his voice that spoke this time. It was also Aki's. Kana's eyes widened, frozen. He was gone no more than a few moments after the words left his lips. She stood rooted to the spot, staring at the spot where Deimus/Aki had once been. She did not hear the soft footsteps of Youko coming up behind her.

"Why did you do that?" Youko snarled, angry. Kana's eyes widened, backing away from him. He continued in her direction, his eyes narrowed into slits as he watched her. "Are you mad?" he accused, tossing a hand into the air. "You let him get away," he growled. Kana stopped, her back pressed into the trunk of a tree that had the misfortune of being there. His fist slammed into the bark right above her head, and she winced. "Why?" He shouted, grabbing her shoulders roughly.

"I…I--," she started, finding no words to support her.

"Why?" Youko barked again, and Kana broke.

"That was my brother," she shouted back to him, and he drew back, not expecting a reaction such as that. He sighed, closing his eyes.

"That was not your brother out there, you know that," he said softly. How did he know? Kana stared at his face, searching for answers that would not be given to her.

"His back," she said, and Youko looked at her again. "Did you see his back?" There was no response. "I saw my brother's scar there and…" she faltered, silencing herself.

"Forget it," he said, releasing her from his hold. She slid down onto the ground, crouching there, regaining her bearings.

"I-I'm sorry," she stumbled out, her face turned towards the ground. "I didn't mean—,"

Youko silenced her with a look. She sighed, looking back at the grass again. "You acted on impulse. It was foolish, but you could not control it." Kana did nothing. "The price will be heavy for your irrationality. You do realize that." Youko paused, sighing, as if trying to calm himself down. "That is something you should work on." There were a few moments of silence.

"Thank you," Kana said, uncertain if he would strike out again. "For saving me. If you hadn't been there, I don't know what--,"

Youko didn't answer, didn't cut her off, but something about his gaze upon her made her stop. He cocked his head to one side; both of his ears were in her direction. "He made a nice choice," he mused. Kana looked at him weirdly.

"Excuse me?"

Youko straightened. "It was nothing," he responded smoothly, sauntering over to her. "I was speaking of a friend. Nothing more."

"A friend?" Kana asked hopefully, thinking it to be Yusuke or Kurama, or maybe someone else she knew. Hey, they said they were Spirit Detectives – maybe working with fox-men was part of the job.

His eyes narrowed. "Yes," he said, studying her. "You could say that."

Kana's heart lifted. So maybe she was right. Maybe this fox-man Youko did have something to do with them. "How about Kur—I mean, Shuichi?" Youko stiffened, hearing the name. He looked away, placing a single finger to the bottom of his lip, as if thinking.

_She doesn't know? _

_**No, and I prefer to keep it that way until I absolutely must tell her.**_

_Are you sure about that? It does not seem like a wise choice, Shuichi._

…_**Yes.**_

"I _could _say that," he continued, leaning his head in closer. "What would you say if I did?" He grabbed a strand of her hair, twirling it in one finger. His nearly-white skin and her raven-black hair made a sharp contrast. Kana held her breath. His golden-eyes were like her own, only hers was more yellow. "Come," he said suddenly, his voice louder than the usual dark husky tone. It seemed he had forgotten the previous conversation. "You need to get back home."

Kana's mouth dropped open, remembering. How long was she gone? Would her aunt realize? They'd probably be worrying, even Ayamu, if they even knew. She nodded to Youko, agreeing with his words. Youko took this as the initiative, and picked her up, slinging her over her shoulder as if she were a sack of vegetables.

"Hey--!" She cried out, surprised. "Let me down!"

He completely ignored her, and crouched down a little before bursting forward with what seemed like no effort at all. He ran faster than Deimus, and Kana, caught off-guard, was trying her best to hold onto him, anything that she could grab. She clung to his robe, fearing she might fall off in her awkward state. His grip was strong, and she doubted he'd ever let her fall, but she'd rather be safe than sorry.

In what seemed like a second, he suddenly stopped. Kana craned her neck to see over his back, but it was a pretty stupid thing to do anyways. He set her down – no, he_ threw_ her down – onto her aunt's lawn. Kana stifled a yelp as she landed onto the grass with a thump. She stood up and looked at the house, rubbing the back of her head. It looked dark, quiet. Maybe they were still sleeping; they had no idea what happened. That was good. She wouldn't want to explain all of this anyways.

"Hmm," Youko mused, looking over the house. He looked at one open window on the second floor, then back to Kana.

"Oh, no, you're not—," Kana started, backing away from him. She knew what he was going to do, and she didn't want him to.

Too late. Youko picked her up roughly again, leaping up and landing smoothly through the open window, setting her down again in her room. He paused, looking her over.

_You feel something for her. I cansense it._

_**Yes.**_

…_Good choice._

"Thank you," Kana said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. She looked up at him, at the strange fox-man that had just saved her from Deimus. God knows what he had been planning do to with her. He transported her back to her house in record time, even though it was a little uncomfortable and awkward, she could never have made it back. She barely knew the neighborhood, and she'd be searching for a house that looked exactly like all others. It would take way longer than necessary.

Youko said nothing, but gave a small nod. He turned to go.

"Wait."

He turned his head slightly to look at her, his hair flowing with the movement. She paused, suddenly feeling foolish. She looked down at her hands.

"Please, if you know Kur—Shuichi," she started softly, "tell him I haven't forgotten about him. Or anyone else." She gave a heavy sigh. "I miss him. I miss everyone." Her hands ran through her hair and she stole a glance at Youko. He was still there by the open window, watching her silently, intently. "I should never have come here. I haven't heard from my friends, and--," she stopped herself. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you didn't want to hear any of that."

Youko didn't answer, but silently padded over to her, gazing at her intensely. He hooked one finger underneath her chin, bringing her face to meet his. She froze, staring into his golden gaze. Without warning, his mouth was on hers, pulling her into a kiss. Before Kana had time to protest, he turned away, heading for the open window swiftly and silently.

_That was for you, Shuichi._

Kana stared at him, her mouth making a perfect 'O'. She was left staring after him dumbly as he leaped out the window and into the night.

* * *


	18. Chapter 18

_Rei says: _

Ahh, it feels so good to be back!  
Did you guys miss me? Huh? Huh? Did ya?

Aww, I know you did.

I want to say a huge, huge, HUGE thank-you to everyone who reviewed and gave me their support and their own take on the whole incident. Without you guys, I probably would have given up on this story and it would take much longer to actually update. There's even a few people who took the time to e-mail me! To those of you who did, it meant to much! I'm glad there are people out there who care enough to do so. You guys made me feel so much better about the whole thing.

I really am sorry about the long wait for this chapter.  
But! I'm getting back on track! And I set up a new goal -  
I'm going to try to get this story to twenty chapters by my birthday (April 25th)! So don't worry! I am still alive and breathing, and perfectly able to type my little fingers off! And that's what I aim to do. So, I want you guys to review and leave me some support, okay? There's a little catch to the next update this time, too, so let's try and make that goal! All righty?

Enjoy the chapter! Please R&R!

* * *

Chapter 18

Kurama lay on his bed, exhausted. His hands were placed behind his head, acting as a pillow, as he ran the events of the night three days ago, when he had transformed into Youko to protect Kana from Deimus.

_**Why?**_

He had asked his other self the same question dozens of times, and each time he got the same mysterious chuckle, sounding faded as if it were heard from miles away. He sighed, frustrated, pulling one arm from behind his head to place it over his eyes. If it weren't for Youko, he would never have had any idea that the wolf demon was anywhere near her. If he hadn't allowed him to take over, what would've happened to her?

He shook his head to one side, as if letting the thought pour out onto his bed and out of his mind. **_Why, Youko?_**

_I was only playing with the girl, _Youko finally replied with an answer, his voice laced with amusement. _Just having a little fun, is all._

In his mind he saw Youko leaning in to kiss Kana, watching it as if he were floating somewhere near the ceiling. He flushed, and he heard Youko chuckle once more. He was enjoying this, he realized with a hint of annoyance.

_I've never known you to blush, Shuichi._

_**I'm not blushing.**_

_Sure you are._

Kurama sat up in his bed quickly, feeling annoyed. He cupped his face in his hands and gazed out the open window, trying to ignore Youko's laughter.

* * *

Kana heaved her bag over her shoulder as she entered the school, not making eye contact with anyone. She had now been here for almost three weeks, and it was clear she wasn't going to make any friends. Not that she really cared. She didn't want to be here, and, judging by the strange glances she had been given during her days here, they didn't want her here either. So here, she kept to herself mainly, made small talk when needed, and stayed out of people's way. 

She stopped at her locker, dumping her bag onto the floor. She picked up her lock and began to put in her combination, which she had memorized by now. She was not in a good mood today. Ever since three days ago, when fox-man and wolf-man showed up at her place, she'd been losing more and more sleep, paranoid that one of them might show up again. Deimus had found her here, but how?

She growled to herself, swinging her locker open and beginning to unzip her backpack to put in some binders. At least this place didn't require a uniform, Kana thought absently, looking down at her worn pair of jeans. Finally she didn't need to wear a skirt. Sadly, that was the only upside to this school.

Not only has she lost sleep, but her uncle had been avoiding her like the plague. She still can't get his words out of her head. She had been meaning to confront him about it, but what good would that do?

Her aunt had been following her around, apologizing for her husband's behavior, thinking it to be her fault somehow. No matter how much she tried to tell her not to worry about it, she kept at it. At Ayamu, she was…well, distant as ever. Not that that was going to change. But she had talked more in these past three days than she had ever had in the few two weeks she had been here.

She closed her locker and sighed. On top of everything, there was this boy that kept following her everywhere…

"Fair maiden!"

Kana groaned inwardly, hearing Kuga's voice, the same guy she had met a few days ago at the dumpster, of all places. Turns out he's at the same school as her, as she discovered two days ago when he nearly ran her down in the hallway screaming 'fair maiden!' at the top of his lungs. He was really nice, and, (surprise, surprise) very popular. He was extremely childish, though, which led to some awkward moments and strange outbursts. And no matter how much she tried to talk him out of it, he always insisted on calling her 'fair maiden'.

He untangled himself from a small crowd of people and made his way over to her, wearing yet again another strange outfit. How does he get away with it? She wondered vaguely, looking down at the clunky black boots covered with straps he was wearing, which made him look even taller than he already was. A bright orange hoodie was zipped up all the way, and he was wearing baggy black cargo pants. A gaggle of necklaces and bracelets adorned his neck and wrists. Yet again, he resembled a slightly crazed cosplayer.

He grinned at her, wrapping his arms around her tightly in a hug before she could protest. "What's shakin'?" he cried happily, following her down the hallway. Kana couldn't help but crack a smile at his strange self.

"Nothing really," she answered. She noticed that, although he wore many bracelets, he wasn't wearing the one that she had thought she recognized when she first met him. She ran a hand through her hair, looking around at the people in the hallways. Most of them had raised a hand in greeting to Kuga, most of them ended up screaming out his name. He just smiled in reply, not giving them much attention. She was glad that at least one person in this school bothered to talk to her, even if the one person seemed to be a little out of his mind.

"I've got a test today," he said, trying to make a conversation, "and I didn't study for it!"

Kana smiled, opening her mouth to say something.

"Kuga!" a shorter guy, looking the same age as Kuga, ran up to the both of them, raising both hands, waiting for Kuga to give him a high-five before running off again.

"You're…popular, aren't you?" she asked, looking up at him.

Kuga looked at her, surprised. "Me? No," he said, grinning self-consciously. "It just so happens that a lot people know my name."

"Same thing, isn't it?"

"I don't know," he answered cheerily, shrugging. "Is it?" Kuga fell silent for a moment before wheeling onto Kana suddenly, making her step back in surprise. "Aren't you popular, fair maiden?"

Kana snorted. "Are you kidding?" she asked, looking at him.

"No," he replied innocently, blinking at her. "Aren't you?" Kana sighed, shaking her head. He gaped at her. "Why not?"

"People in this school…are different," she said, after a moment of thinking of what to say. "But it's all right," she said quickly, "I don't mind."

Kuga seemed to pout. "That's not fair," he said, looking at her. "Don't worry, Kana, leave it me!"

Before she could protest, the bell rang, and he waved to her before disappearing into the crowds again. She shook her head, making her way to class. How he was going to do that, she wasn't sure she really wanted to find out.

* * *

"Minamino." 

Kurama didn't seem to know that the teacher had put her hands on her hips, looking at him sternly. He staring out the window, watching the world outside.

"Minamino."

Students turned in their seats to look at Kurama, or, rather, Shuichi Minamino, who continued to gaze out the window absent-mindedly. He still didn't to respond.

"_Minamino_," the teacher said sternly, beginning to lose her patience.

A student behind him tapped his shoulder, and only then did he seem to snap out of it. He blinked his emerald eyes, seeing the teacher standing over him, the students all looking his way, surprised that the amazing Shuichi Minamino had been caught daydreaming in class.

"I'm sorry," he apologized quickly, looking at the teacher.

The teacher sighed. "Don't let it happen again, Minamino," she responded, turning her back to him and making her way to the chalkboard.

Students shifted back around in their seats, their hushed whispers ceasing abruptly. Kurama sighed, running his hands through his crimson locks, embarrassed to have been caught by the teacher like that.

Before long, the bell rang, and students got up quickly, eager to get out of the classroom. Kurama picked up his binder slowly, tucking it under his arm as he made his way towards the exit.

"Shuichi-kun?"

He paused for a moment, then turned towards the voice. A girl stood there, beginning to blush furiously when he laid eyes on her. He recognized her vaguely. She was one of the girls in his grade, one that was usually quiet and kept to herself.

"Yes?" he asked politely, wondering what the girl would want from him.

She looked up at him, beginning to stumble over her words as she talked. "Um, well…I was just wondering, if maybe, um--," she stopped, blushing. "…if you were maybe, well…free on Friday?" She gazed up at him hopefully.

Kurama paused, looking at the girl. "I'm sorry, but no," he said, trying to sound as apologetic as possible. The girl's face visibly fell.

"Oh," she said, her voice sounding small. "I see." She went to pick up her books, then turned to him. "Is it…is it because there's someone else?"

She watched him intently for his answer, studying his face. Kurama shifted his gaze from her eyes then, turning towards the door, not facing her.

"Yes."

* * *

"I'm home!" Kana shouted as she stepped into her aunt's house, taking off her shoes. She sighed, sitting on the base of the stairs, feeling drained. She heard her aunt shout something in answer, but she didn't catch it. Instead, she headed into the kitchen, where she saw her aunt standing over the stove, stirring a pot. 

"Hey hun," she said warmly, seeing Kana. She couldn't help but smile in answer, somehow getting used to her aunt's attitude already.

"What are you cooking?" Kana asked, peering into the pot a little cautiously. Her aunt looked at her brightly, as if happy that she had asked.

"Soup!" cried her aunt, grinning from ear-to-ear. "I just started. It should be ready by dinnertime. Do you have any homework to do, dear?"

"Yeah," Kana responded, already beginning to leave the kitchen.

"I'll call you down when dinner's ready, all righty?"

"Sure," she smiled, exiting the room and making her way up the stairs.

"Oh!" her aunt cried, causing her to stop and turn to look at her from where she stood on the stairs. Her aunt came out of the kitchen. "Kana, do you know what happened to the curtain rod in your room? I wanted to put up the curtains today, but the curtain rod was missing."

Kana had something of a flashback, remembering whacking Deimus over the head with it three nights ago. She held back a smile and pretended to act surprised. "No," she said, blinking. Her aunt smiled, waving her hands.

"Never mind, then, we'll get a new one later," she said, heading back into the kitchen.

* * *

Long after dinner ended, Kana sat up in her room on the bed, the window open as she poured over her homework, biting the end of her pen angrily. 

"Stupid homework," she said to the paper she began to write on. "I hate you." She stared at the paper, as if waiting for it to reply, or perhaps magically give the answer to the question.

"Homework, eh? Not much fun, is it?"

Kana screamed, one hand clutched over heart, caught totally off-guard. She turned slowly towards the window, where the voice had come from.

"Hiya!" a girl with bright blue hair smiled at her, but it wasn't her hair color that had her surprised. She was flying.

On an _oar_.

Kana was speechless as she floated into her room, hopping off the oar, her mouth dropping open when it disappeared to nowhere. She was wearing a pink kimono, her blue hair pulled into a ponytail.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry," she apologized perkily, giggling.

Kana said nothing, still gaping at her. Suddenly she heard her aunt's footsteps heading towards her room, and she quickly got up to lock the door, clamping her hand over the scary oar-lady's mouth so she wouldn't speak.

"Kana? Did you just scream?"

"No," she answered loudly, and stood stock-still, her hand still on the blue-haired girl's mouth to keep her from talking out loud.

"Oh, well, all right," her aunt said, loud enough for her to hear through the door. Kana waited until she heard her aunt go back downstairs before she dropped her hands back to her side.

"Who are you?" Kana asked the girl, who just blinked at her. "How'd you get here?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I mean, how did you--," she flapped her arms around, searching for a word, "do what you just did?"

The kimono-clad girl cocked her head to one side, her ponytail flopping with the sudden movement. "The name's Botan, also known as the Grim Reaper!"

Kana just stared. "Uh, okay…" Well, there was one answer she was not expecting. "Grim Reaper?"

Botan giggled. "Doesn't suit me much, I know. I get that all the time." She cleared her throat, then started talking again. "Okay. Now. You're Kana, right?"

"How'd you know my name?" Kana asked, furrowing her brows.

"I know everyone's name, silly. It comes with the job, you know," she said, pulling out a small book and beginning to flip through it. "See this? It's got everyone's name in it, and when they're going to die and such. As the Grim Reaper, it's my job to take care of that sort of thing, you know." Botan winked, and what she had just said bothered Kana a little.

"Wait…so I'm going to die soon? Is that it?"

Botan stopped, then laughed, waving her hand dismissively, grinning. "Oh, no, silly! I'm here to take you to Spirit World. Lord Koenma wishes to see you."

"Koenma?"

Botan nodded curtly. "Yep."

"That name sounds familiar," she mused. Suddenly, the light bulb went off in her head. "Oh, is that the little kid that Yusuke gets ordered around by?"

"The one and only," Botan answered cheerily. "And he wants to speak with you. So, if you'll come with me," she said, her oar appearing in her outstretched hand. She hopped onto it, then held out her palm, beckoning for Kana to get on as well. "We should get going. Lord Koenma is a little impatient lately. He's been overloaded with work."

Kana looked at her, this strange girl, and then back at her room. "What if they notice I'm gone?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Botan said, "that'll all be taken care of. You just need to come with me."

Kana paused, as if considering it, then took Botan's hand and climbed on herself.

"Hold on!" Botan cried, and just like that, they flew out the open window and into the darkness.

* * *

"Lord Koenma, Botan has returned." A blue ogre appeared at the huge double doors, opening it with some difficulty. Koenma looked up from where he sat, then nodded. 

"Good, good. Let them in."

"Of course, sir." The ogre stepped away for a moment, and then Botan and Kana appeared, walking into the room. Koenma set aside some papers, folding his hands on his desk neatly, trying to make himself appear orderly and dignified.

"Lord Koenma," Botan said, bowing. Koenma nodded to Botan.

"Good job, Botan. I knew I could count on you." He looked past her and stared at teenager standing behind her, looking around at the room with awe. He cleared his throat, and the girl looked in his direction quickly. "Kana, is it?"

Kana nodded, and Botan stepped aside, beckoning for her to come closer. A little awkwardly, she did so, regarding the toddler with curiosity and confusion. "Y-yes," she said quietly, unsure of what to do or say.

"You've gotten yourself into a heap of trouble, haven't you?" Koenma said, his pacifier moving around in an odd way as he spoke. Kana cocked her head to one side. He paused, then looked towards Botan. "You're dismissed, Botan. I'll call you in when I need you again."

"Yes, sir," she said, and with a small bow, began making her way out of the room. Koenma waited until the huge double-doors swung shut with a loud bang before turning his attention back to Kana.

"I presume Yusuke has told you about…them, yes?"

"That…they're Spirit Detectives?"

Koenma nodded. "Yes, exactly." He took in a deep breath, twiddling his thumbs as he spoke. "I wasn't expecting him to do so, you know. It was very unwise, telling people about what they are and such. But when I heard about who you were, well then, that changed everything." He leaned in closer, his pudgy child hands placed on the desk. "Your brother is a wanted criminal."

"I-I know that," answered Kana quietly.

"They almost completed their mission three nights ago, until you interfered." His gaze grew stern, and Kana flushed, feeling embarrassed for her rash actions that night. "I understand. He was your brother, and you wanted to protect him." His tone turned soft, and Kana nodded. "Understand this: he is not your brother anymore. The demon has taken total control of his body, and he will never emerge again. He is dead to you, Kana. Your brother will never regain control of his own body. The demon has corrupted him, made him weak. He is lost to the world, now."

Kana's eyes widened, feeling hot tears prick in the corners. "You do realize what will happen when they get their hands on him?"

Kana stayed quiet this time, not answering him. She looked down at her lap, but when Koenma started speaking again, she met his eyes directly.

"When the Tantei get their hands on that demon, Kana, they _will _kill him."

* * *

**200 reviews until the next chapter! **

I know you guys can do it! Huzzah!

Until next time,  
Atomic Rei


	19. Chapter 19

Whoo! Spring break!  
-cough-  
Ahem. Anyways.

_Thank you to those who reviewed…_

**Chapter 17:  
**Du Weldenvarden Farcai, 14thShrineMaiden, Koji Jaganshi, Konane Shadow Wolf, xxDream Theaterxx, CryOfTheGhost, MikoHatome, Keia Mizuki, xXThEDeAdLyAsSaSsInXx, mary

**Chapter 18:  
**ToboeShi, Du Weldenvarden Farcai, CryOfTheGhost, Koji Jaganshi, Konane Shadow Wolf, 14thShrineMaiden, Keya, Keia Mizuki, xXThEDeAdLyAsSaSsInXx, Nyx, Mary, RyokoOfTheDarknessRising, Mizuki-chan, Foxlover

…You guys continue to kick major ass!

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Chapter 19

The words felt like a slap to the face. Kana looked at Koenma, astonished. "But…why?"

"It wasn't their orders to start with, I'll tell you that. At first I sent out the Tantei only to find the demon and bring him or her back here. As you may not know, wolf demons now are very rare, and their powers are extraordinary. I was hoping that in some way I could recruit this demon to our side, so to speak. However, when I found what was left of his records, I discovered that…this demon is incredibly dangerous. There was no other option other than to kill him, to stop him from performing his nasty deeds."

"Do you really mean that?"

Koenma let out a heavy sigh. "It was – _is_ – their orders, Kana." He coughed. "Anyways," he continued, looking around the room, searching for something. "I was only saying this for your safety. You must know what they plan to do." Koenma played around with his thumbs again. "Whether you like it or not, you are imperative to this mission. You play a big role. The Tantei need you to complete this mission. The demon has taken a liking to you, and he will come for you again." His voice lowered. "And the next time, you may not be so lucky as to have Youko come save you."

Kana looked to the floor, unable to meet his gaze. They find her brother again, and they will kill him. But now, there's no hope of them completing their job without her. They wouldn't _really _kill him, would they? Demon or not, he's still Aki…

"Kana."

Koenma's voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up at him.

"My question to you is this: will you help them?"

There was a long pause as Kana thought about those words. He was asking for her to aid in her brother's death. If she helped them, he was going to die. That was it, wasn't it?

Then again…

She thought of Deimus - his voice, his actions, that night three days ago, everything, even her father's death. It was hard to believe that he was possessed the body of her brother. They were so different. Deimus couldn't possibly be her brother. The only thing the same about them was the fact that they shared the same body. There was no way that she would aid in killing her brother. But Deimus, on the other hand…

Kana looked right into his eyes. "I will _not _help them kill my brother," she said, her voice strong, "however, the Tantei are my friends, and I will help them getting closer to the demon. I will help them in killing the _demon_, not my brother."

Koenma sighed, nodding. "There is one thing you must know – if they do get their hands on the demon, there is no guarantee that your brother will be safe. They share the same body – your brother may not survive at all. Do you accept the risks?"

"I do."

Koenma visibly relaxed in his chair. "You are a strong girl, Kana. The Tantei are lucky to have you. And now--," he placed his hands on the desk, "Botan?" he called out. There was a pause, then a loud creaking noise as the door swung open.

"Yes, sir?"

"Escort Kana back home," he ordered. To Kana, he added softly, "it is time you went back. Thank you for taking the time to come here. You will be hearing from me again soon."

Kana nodded, turning slightly to look at Botan. Unsure of what to do, she gave a small bow, then followed Botan out of the room.

"What will happen now?" Koenma sighed.

* * *

Kana followed Botan through the huge hallways, afraid that if she slowed down, she might suddenly lose her. She was going so fast, always talking. 

"I've heard a lot about you from Yusuke and Kuwabara, you know," Botan was saying over the loudness of the ogres that passed them by, "it's nice to finally meet you."

"Yeah," she answered absently, not hearing anything Botan had just said at all.

"Keep close to me," she said, "it's easy to lose someone right around here," she finished, and Kana nodded, hearing her this time. She sped up her walk to stick closer to the kimono-clad girl.

They turned a corner, and came to a spacious room filled with ogres of all different colors, each doing something different. Some were talking animatedly; most were running around with huge stacks of papers. It was a scene of total chaos. Kana felt her eyes bug out of her head. What was this place?

As she was staring, she realized suddenly that Botan was gone. "Botan?" she called out, her voice getting lost over the noise of the ogres. "Botan?" she shouted, feeling desperate. She didn't know her way around here! How was she going to get home?

She quickly caught a glimpse of pink and blue somewhere in the commotion. Without thinking, she headed towards it, dodging the paths of various ogres in the process. She couldn't stop now. If she did, she feared she might be trampled by the ogres running around wildly.

"Botan?" she screamed, not expecting to get an answer. She looked around, trying to see anything that didn't have horns or claws. She ducked as an ogre came by with a stack of towering papers threatening to fall onto her. "Botan! Where'd you go?" she cried, whirling around in circles.

"Hey, get out of the way!" an ogre cried. "What are you doing here?"

Kana turned to the voice, but it was quickly lost in another sea of ogres running around. Damn it, she thought. Where the hell was she going? And where did Botan go?

"Hey! Botan!" she screamed, earning nothing but a few dodgy glances from ogres. Obviously screaming wasn't going to help anything, now was it? Kana sighed, defeated, and continued to make her way through the pandemonium. It was hopeless to look for someone here. She would get out of here, then find someone to help her look for Botan another way. Yeah, that sounded logical.

Suddenly a hand reached out and grabbed her, pulling her away from the noise and commotion. "Hey--!" she protested, unable to see the person who was dragging her.

She was helpless as she was pulled through the chaos, realizing that she was getting out of here. They turned the corner, down another hallway, away from all the mess of the busy ogre-filled center. Kana let out a sigh of relief, glad to get away from the huge crowd and noise. It was only now that she got a glimpse of the one who had pulled her out of the mess.

"Kurama?" she said incredulously.

It was Kurama. She looked at him in something of shock and disbelief, unable to process the fact that he was actually _here_. But he was, he was here…and she was happy.

"Thank you," she said.

"What were you doing there?" he asked her.

Kana shrugged. "I was just following Botan," she said helplessly. "But then she was gone, so I tried to go find her."

"Not smart," he said, looking back. "It's hard to get through there as it is. Trying to find someone is next to impossible."

"I realize that now," she answered, hanging her head, but she couldn't stop the grin stretching on her face. It really was Kurama. "How'd you get here, though?"

"Koenma called us here," he shrugged. "Yusuke and the others should be around here somewhere too. I was on my way there when I saw you."

At the mention of Koenma's name, she suddenly remembered the conversation she had with him. "Kurama…" she began softly, and Kurama turned to her, hearing her tone change.

"Yes, Kana?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"I made up my mind." At this, he cocked his head to one side, waiting for her to explain further. "My brother came for me again, three days ago." She looked at him, waiting for a reaction.

"It's not safe for you anymore," he said softly, shaking his head a little. He didn't sound surprised or shocked, just…sad.

"Someone saved me, someone who claimed to know you," she continued, and at this Kurama visibly stiffened, which she thought was odd. "And it was only when I stopped him from killing my brother did I realize something."

Kurama paused, waiting to hear what she had to say.

Kana took in a deep breath, feeling herself on the edge of tears.

"He really isn't my brother anymore. Even Koenma told me that. He really is gone, forever. There's nothing I can do about it." Now she could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks, but she did nothing to stop them. Kurama came over silently and gently held her. She did not cry while she was in his arms. She had done enough of that before.

They stayed that way for a while, not speaking, just holding each other. Kana broke the silence. "You're going to kill him, aren't you?"

He didn't hold back, nor did he sugar-coat his words to keep her in denial. "Those were our orders. Yes." He held her tightly; as if afraid she might suddenly leave upon hearing those words.

"I'm going to help you with your mission. I know I let him get away a few days ago, and I won't let it happen again."

Kurama opened his mouth to say something, but just then Botan came running around the corner.

"Kana!" she cried, coming to a halt in front of the two. "Where'd you go? I was looking everywhere!" she stopped, looking from Kana then back to Kurama, who broke apart way too quickly. Kana was busy wiping at her eyes, and Kurama pretended to be staring up at the ceiling. A devilish grin spread on her face. "Oh, I'm _sorry_ if I _interrupted something_," she said, a hand covering her mouth, winking.

Kana and Kurama reached out for Botan as she tried to walk away. "You didn't interrupt anything," they said in unison, and Botan blinked, looking surprised.

"Well, if you say so," she said, not sounding entirely convinced. She looked at Kurama. "Shouldn't you be at Koenma's office? He's waiting for you."

"Um, I was on my way there…" he started to explain, but Botan interrupted.

"And Kana, it's about time I brought you home." She grabbed Kana's sleeve and started to drag her down the hallway. She could only look back at Kurama helplessly.

* * *

"So, you and Kurama, huh?" 

Kana blinked, looking at Botan. They were flying extremely fast through the night air, heading back towards her aunt's house. Kana blushed, hoping that Botan wouldn't see.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, and Botan laughed.

"Don't be embarrassed! I think it's cute!" she crooned, and that made Kana feel even more self-conscious. She gripped the oar tightly, afraid she might fall off. Looking down wasn't such a good idea…

There was a pause before Botan continued. "Not gonna talk about it, huh?" she said, swooping to the right quickly to avoid a tree as she lowered them closer to the ground. "That's all right," she said, giggling.

Kana rolled her eyes to the sky, wishing she would stop. _This _was the Grim Reaper? She hardly seemed to fit the description at all.

"To come to think of it, I think I heard Keiko saying something to me in passing about the two of you, but she wasn't really sure…" she nudged Kana with her elbow. "She said that you two would be good together, you know."

Kana blushed furiously, and looked for a way to change the subject. "There's my house," she called out, pointing into the near distance. Or, maybe it wasn't. She couldn't really tell, since all the houses were alike, but at least they were at her neighborhood now.

"Is it?" Botan cried, banking quickly to the right. Kana yelped, teetering on the edge of the oar for a moment dangerously before regaining her balance.

She studied the broad expanse of the nearly-identical houses, searching for her own. At last, as Botan soared above the next street, she spotted hers, the one with the open window. Without warning, she expertly guided the two of them through the open window, the oar disappearing from right below them as they entered her room. Botan and her crashed somewhat smoothly onto the floor of her bedroom.

"Well, that was interesting, now wasn't it?" Botan cried somewhat breathlessly, and Kana placed a finger to her lips, indicating that she be silent, in case that her aunt or someone else in the house may still be up.

"Thank you for taking me home," Kana said, in the same breathless tone as Botan, who smiled at her, having thoroughly enjoyed the ride there.

"No problem!" she said happily, and again her oar materialized out of nowhere. "I'd better be going," she added, hopping onto the oar. "We'll see each other soon!" she shouted as she zoomed out the window, and Kana peered out after her as she flew up, up, up, into the sky, until she was nothing more than just a tiny little speck, just like a star.

* * *

A week passed without any fuss. Of course, it depends on what 'fuss' is in your dictionary. There hasn't been a word from Koenma, Botan, or anyone else for that matter. And there were no visits from any demon of any kind. Things went back to it had been, when she first moved into her aunt's house. 

"Kana?"

Kana poked her head out her bedroom door. It was her aunt. "Yeah?"

"Can you go in the garage and get a garbage bag for me?"

"No problem," she answered back, loud enough for her to hear. She left her room and headed down the stairs, making her way to the garage. As she passed her uncle's work room, she couldn't help but stop, hearing him talking in a hushed tone.

"Are you sure?" There was a pause. He must be talking on a phone. "I'm doing my best, all right? I can't do very much at this point; I barely see or talk to the kid." Another pause. A sigh. "Look, all I'm asking--," he stopped, as if getting cut off. Kana strained to hear more. What was he talking about? "It's hard enough blocking all her damn phone calls. At least one of them calls everyday. I know you told me to keep her isolated, but it's getting harder and harder. One of their calls is going to slip right by me, or they could come here and visit…" Kana suddenly felt chilled. Was he talking about her? "If you're not going to pay me, then I might as well just stop right now." A longer pause, and then a sound of satisfaction. "Thank you, thank you, you know that's what I wanted…" His voice was getting lower. Kana was desperate to hear more. She heard a gasp, and then his voice returned to normal. "No! No! Please, I'll do it, anything you ask…just please, you must give me…"

"Kana?"

Kana yelped, trying to scramble away from the door as quickly as she could. She landed on a heap on the floor, looking up at her aunt helplessly.

"Now, what on earth are you doing, dear?" she asked kindly, her face clearly showed her amusement. Her uncle's door opened and Haruhei's head poked out.

"I'm taking an important call," he growled, and when he saw Kana, he seemed to pale. She stared at him, trying to see his emotions. She felt nothing but anger at him now. He had been talking about her, hadn't he? And who was he on the phone with? She glared at him, trying her best not to get up and run over to him to give him a nice whack across the cheek. But suddenly, everything made sense now…

"I'm sorry, honey," her aunt said soothingly, trying not to get him too upset. He shook his head angrily and retreated back into the room, slamming the door behind him. Her aunt sighed. Kana got up from the floor, brushing imaginary dirt off of her jeans.

"I'll go get the garbage bag," she mumbled, heading quickly for the door leading out to the garage. She grabbed the box that contained them and pulled one out, heading back into the house and giving it to her aunt. She couldn't make eye contact with her.

"Kana, what's wrong?" her aunt asked, concerned.

Kana blinked, shaking her head. "Nothing," she answered.

* * *

It was dinner time, and Kana came downstairs to sit at the table. Ayamu and her uncle were already seated, and Kana made sure to give her uncle a dirty look before sitting down. His eyes widened, and for a moment he looked afraid. Perhaps he knew that she knew. 

Her aunt put some spaghetti onto her plate, and smiled at her as she seated herself. "So," she began, trying to find a conversation-starter. "How was everyone's day?" A few mumbles, nothing in particular. Her aunt looked disappointed. She turned to her uncle. "Well, Haruhei? How was yours?"

"Yeah," Kana chorused, suddenly looking up at him, "how was your day? How many phone calls did you block?"

At this, her uncle's eyes widened with fury. Her aunt looked puzzled. "Kana, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing, its nothing--," her uncle interrupted quickly. Kana smiled.

"No, actually, I think it is something," she said, glaring at her uncle now. She could see that out of the corner of her eye that Ayamu was watching with interest. Kana folded her hands onto the table, smiling. "Do you remember that time, a few weeks ago at the dinner table, when we were talking about my _friends_?"

"Yes…" her aunt answered slowly, looking back and forth from her to Haruhei, completely confused.

"Turns out, they _have _been calling, haven't they?" she looked at her uncle, cocking her head to one side, her voice sounding unnaturally perky. Her uncle said nothing, only glared at her. "They have. Only I never knew. You know why?"

Her aunt looked completely lost.

"He's been blocking the calls. He's been picking up the phone and answering, hanging up, never telling me that they've called. Trying to 'isolate' me, isn't that what you said?"

"Now, you listen--," her uncle started angrily, setting down his fork with a clatter.

"Haruhei, is she telling the truth?"

"Yes, I am! Tell her. Tell her what you've been doing for the month I've been here." Kana stared at him, holding onto the edge of the table to stop herself from launching herself onto him in fury.

For a moment there was silence. Total, pure silence. Haruhei did not move, his eyes darting around the room as if to contemplate what to do next.

"You should know better than to listen in on calls that have nothing to do with you," he said finally, his voice in a dangerous whispering tone. Her aunt looked at him, shocked.

"Haruhei! Why have you done something like this? You knew she was upset about her friends to begin with. Why would you do something like this? It's so unlike you…" her aunt went on and on, but Kana could no longer hear the words.

"It does have something to do with me," Kana interrupted, answering her uncle's previous sentence. "It was me you talking about. So tell me," she continued, her aunt had fallen silent now as she watched Kana. Her uncle's gaze was on her unwaveringly. "So tell me, who is it you were talking to? Who put you up to this, I wonder?"

"No one," he answered smoothly, in the same odd tone he took with her before.

"Really? That's strange. I remember you talking to someone else. Who told you to do this to me? And what did you hope to receive in return?"

"You know too much," he hissed.

"Maybe I do, but then again, maybe I don't. I am going to find out who put you up to this, because you have no idea what it was like living here without any word of any of my friends back in Meiou, thinking what you said about them!" she shook her head angrily. "I can't believe I ever listened to you."

"Kana, dear," her aunt said, and Kana realized that she had gotten up and walked over to her, her hand placed onto her shoulder. Her touch made her feel weak all of a sudden, as if her strength seeped out of her. She realized how much the events the past two weeks had affected her. All she wanted to do now was to sleep, sleep away everything, and find out that maybe all of this was a dream, a horrible dream. "Go upstairs. Let me handle this now."

"I--," Kana started to protest, but something in her aunt's eyes made her stop. She silently nodded, giving in. She did not even look at her uncle as she swiftly left the kitchen, seething with anger…and sadness.

* * *

"Kana, may I come in?" 

Her aunt's voice. Kana couldn't help but grimace a little. At least an hour had passed since she had been sent up into her room, and, despite how tired she felt, she couldn't bring herself to go to sleep. Something kept her awake.

"Yeah," she called out, and her aunt entered her room slowly, giving her a sad smile.

She looked unsure of what to do with herself. "Kana, I'm so sorry…"

Kana shook her head. "You had nothing to do with it."

"Your friend called again a few minutes ago. The one I met at the funeral that time, remember?"

Despite herself, Kana felt her heart jump a little bit. "Kur—Shuichi?" she had to kick herself inwardly when she almost let his 'nickname' slip. She kept forgetting that he went by Shuichi to everyone else.

"Yes, that's his name," she said, nodding and smiling. "And I answered this time, so don't you worry about anything anymore. I explained what had happened for the past month." She paused, as if expecting reaction. Kana stood stock-still. Where was she going with this? "He's a nice and respectable young man, Kana. I can't believe I never really realized this before."

Kana had to smile at that. Kurama always seemed to be the sort of kiss-up to adults or those in a higher rank than he was.

"I know it's not my fault," her aunt said slowly, watching Kana intensely now, "but I feel very guilty about what had happened. I don't know why Haruhei had done what he did, but it was wrong. He should never have done such an awful thing." Her aunt took a deep breath. "Here's what I decided: since you haven't had any real contact with your old friends, I figured that I'd let you go back there for a week or so, when the upcoming school break comes about. That way you can spend some more time with your friends."

Kana's eyes widened, looking at her aunt in disbelief. "Are you…serious?" she asked carefully, as if afraid her aunt would turn around and say 'April Fools!' or something else equally ridiculous.

"Of course I am!" she said brightly. Kana's mouth dropped open, and in her mind she quickly did the math – there was only a few more days until her school let out on a week long break…so that meant it would only be a few more days until she saw Yusuke, Kuwabara…and….

Kurama….

"Your friend has offered that you stay at his place, and in any other circumstances I would have said an outright no, but your friend is different. It's too bad we didn't have any respectable young men like that back when I was your age. You're very lucky to have someone like him, Kana," she coughed, and then smiled at Kana. "He's going to come here at the end of the week with his mother and bring you to his place for the school break."

Kana could feel her eyes bugging out of her head. She couldn't be serious. This was…unreal. Completely fake. Suddenly she realized she had been staring at her aunt with her eyes wide and her mouth open for the past minute like a complete fool and stopped immediately, flushing.

"Thank you," she whispered, giving her aunt a hug, something she had never done before.

"It's the least I could do, dear," she responded warmly, patting her on the back. "You're welcome."

* * *

It had seemed that the rest of the week passed by like it was nothing. When Friday came, Kana was ready to race out of school and get home, but something stopped her this time. 

"Fair maiden, fair maiden!"

Kana stopped and turned, seeing Kuga running down the hallway to meet her in the lobby, right by the school's entrance.

"What's up?" she asked him as he came to a stop in front of her.

"What are you doing over vacation?" he asked her, his eyes wide like a child's.

"I'm going away," she said, not getting into it as deeply as he may have expected. His face seemed to fall.

"Oh…I see," he said, his voice lowering. His voice brightened as his continued on: "Well, have fun, wherever you're going!" He stopped, as if trying to remember something. His eyes seemed to light up as he reached into his bag and pulled out a bracelet. "I want you to take this." He clipped it onto her, and Kana studied it. It was silver, very plain, but with a charm that dangled off of it that resembled a single ruby red star. She smiled at it as she looked it over.

"Thank you," she said.

"You like it?" he exclaimed, looking excited. "Don't take it off, okay? It's really something special. Well, I got to go. I'll see you at the end of break!" And with that, he opened the doors and headed outside. Kana watched him go, then opened one of the doors and left the school.

* * *

All of her things were packed; Kana was greeted by them when she walked through the door of her aunt's home. He was supposed to be coming sometime within the next hour. 

"Kana, is that you?" her aunt called out. "Why don't you come in the kitchen and help me cook while you're waiting for your friend to come." Kana headed into the kitchen as her aunt was speaking, and greeted her. She was standing over the stove, stirring a steaming pot. She handed the wooden spoon to Kana. "Can you stir this for me while I look for the noodles?" she asked her. Kana nodded, taking the spoon and putting it into the pot to stir.

"Thank you dear," she continued, smiling at her. She looked outside the window. "Ooh, that's not good," she said. Kana turned to look at her.

"What's not?"

"It just looks like there's a storm on its way," her aunt said, looking at the heavy dark clouds that hung in the sky.

A half an hour passed, and it had started to rain – hard. Kana stole a glance out the window and winced at the torrential downpour outside. It's all right, she told herself. Not even the weather can destroy a good evening.

Her aunt walked to the front door and took a peek out the window near the door. "Kana!" she called out, trying to get her attention. "Kana, he's here!"

She felt her heart start to pound as she followed her aunt, looking outside as well. Yup. That was his mom's car. Her aunt made herself busy, grabbing Kana's suitcase and an umbrella, as well as her jacket, and stuffing them in Kana's arms.

"Put on the jacket, it's pouring outside," she said, waiting for Kana to zip up the jacket before handing her back the suitcase and umbrella. She gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Be good, all right? We'll see you when you get back."

Kana gave her aunt a hug, whispering a quiet 'thank you' before putting her hand on the doorknob and opening it, stepping outside into the rain, putting up her umbrella. The rain pounded incessantly all around her, and the umbrella did little to protect her shoes from all the puddles she managed to step in as she made her way down the driveway. She gripped her suitcase tightly as if it were a lifesaver.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the car door opened, and Kurama stepped out, shielding himself from the rain with an umbrella as well. Kana stopped short, watching him. He stood stock-still, watching her. A minute must have passed, maybe more.

He held out his hand gently, smiling softly. "Come on," he said warmly, "let's bring you back home."

* * *

Long chapter! Whoo!

Until next time!


	20. Chapter 20

_Rei says:  
_  
Welcome…(finally)…to chapter twenty, everyone!  
I really have to apologize for the wait…I know I promised this chapter by my birthday - which was well over a month ago, I know – but things have been extremely hectic with my life, with school and everything. Nothing I say now can make it better. –bows over and over- Gahh! Rei is sorry! –bangs head against wall-

Anyways – I think the end of this chapter will make everything better. It's chapter twenty, so something special should happen, right? That's what I think. Deimus's words interfering in the scene makes it all the more dramatic. What do you think?

I have to say thanks to my friend Emily – because, once again, if it weren't for her and her death threats, this chapter probably would have been up in a few more months or so. (I've been getting very lazy and suffering from mild writer's block at the moment). I don't think chapter twenty-one will be up for a long while, so forgive me in advance for that.

**Thank you to those who reviewed Chapter 19!**  
Koji Shikage, Madhatterness, CryOfTheGhost, Konane Shadow Wolf,  
OneNightOneDream, keia mizuki, xxTDAxx (see? I abbreviated it for ya' lol),  
Du Weldenvarden Farcai, Mary, 14thShrineMaiden, Foxlover, Gure,  
aoinochi, and Ayumi Fujiwara (a.k.a. Emily).

Enjoy the chapter, and I'll see you next time!

* * *

Chapter 20

"You can put your suitcase in the guest room," Kurama said, once they entered his house. Kana blinked, looking around the house, wondering how long it had been since she'd last been here. Suddenly, she realized she hadn't been paying attention, and she looked back at him, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, somewhat stupidly, and she kicked herself inwardly for not listening. Kurama smiled.

"The guest room. You can put your bag in there. It's where you were last time, remember?"

Kana blushed, remembering that day as if it were years upon years ago, when he had found her in the rain and she passed out from exhaustion. He brought her back to his house, letting her stay the night. She nodded, shaking off the thoughts. "All right," she agreed, and he led her upstairs into the room.

He opened the door and she stepped inside, setting her bag down on the floor near the bed. She looked back at Kurama, who had been standing in the doorway, watching her with a faraway expression on his face. She put her hands on her hips playfully.

"What?" she asked him, smirking. He blinked, snapping out of his trance, looking embarrassed. He gave her an awkward smile.

"It's nothing," he said quickly. His eyes darted to her wrist, where the bracelet from Kuga dangled. "What's this?" he asked, coming closer. He took her hand and inspected the bracelet, his eyes narrowing to slits. The ruby star seemed to sparkle at that moment.

"It's a gift from a friend," she responded guardedly, taking her hand back from him. "Nothing else." Kurama watched her closely for a moment, then sighed.

"Do you need help unpacking?" he asked her gently. Kana shook her head. "Well then, dinner will be ready soon. Are you hungry?"

As if those were magic words, her stomach began rumbling. Kurama chuckled.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said amusedly as he left, closing the door behind him. Kana looked after him, sighing, her cheeks tinted red. She swerved her yellow eyes back to her suitcase and unzipped it, beginning to place clothing into the empty dresser that stood next to the bed.

* * *

After dinner, Kana retreated back to the guest bedroom, sitting down on the bed, lost in thought. She was finally out of her aunt's house and she was back with her friends in the one place she missed most. What more could she ask for? 

She was pondering this when there came a knock at the door. Kana blinked. "Yeah?"

Kurama poked his head in. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, why?" she asked, puzzled. He gave a small shrug.

"You don't look so good," he replied.

Kana grinned. "Gee, thanks," she responded sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant," he said quickly with his eyes a little wide, shaking his head, waving his hand a little as if trying to convince her. Kana smiled, waving it off. "I just meant that you look extremely tired. Is everything all right?"

"I just haven't gotten enough sleep lately," she said, stifling a yawn, "A lot has been happening lately."

He looked genuinely concerned as he stepped into the room. "Why don't you get some sleep now?" Kurama asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But…" she started to protest, trying not to yawn again. "But what about…"

Kurama gave her a smile. "We can do something tomorrow. Right now you should get your rest." Kana nodded slowly, beginning to believe his words. "It's okay, you're just a little sleepy," he said, and Kana suddenly felt wide-awake at those words. She swerved on Kurama quickly, only it wasn't Kurama. It was someone else, someone she had thought she had forgotten forever…

"Kana?"

She blinked, and the image was replaced with Kurama again. He looked worried now. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Why had she thought of him? He, who she hadn't seen in over a year…

"Kana, what's wrong?" he looked right into her eyes, and she felt scared, seeing not his emerald eyes, but deep brown ones, sinister-looking, yet so familiar. A minute passed, and she relaxed, the brown color melting away. She slumped onto the bed, feeling exhausted.

"It's nothing," she said, running a hand through her hair. "For a moment, I thought…" There was a pause, then she laughed. "It's nothing. I think I'm a little too tired." She winced at how hollow her laughter sounded. Kurama watched her with concern.

"Kana…," he said, reaching his hand out to her. She closed her eyes and smiled, taking his hand.

"I'm fine," she said sternly, trying to convince him, yet she herself was shaking on the inside. He paused, hesitant. "I'm going to get some sleep, so don't worry about me. I'll see you in the morning."

"If you need me…," he started as he headed for the door, his eyes searching her face for any sign of what she was feeling.

"I know," she responded softly. The door clicked shut, and Kana was alone again.

* * *

Kana awoke with a start, looking around the room frantically. She had been dreaming about something, something that she had forgotten, but knew was very important. The thought of it scared her. 

Wait. What was that? Someone else was in the room, over in the corner by the window. She strained her eyes in the dark, her mind still half-asleep, her heart pounding in her chest.

Whoever it was lifted their head, and the only thing Kana could see was the amethyst eyes, seeming to be the only light in the dark. They held her, and she could only stare in confusion. Why wasn't he attacking her? Why wasn't he speaking?

She froze, not daring to move a single muscle. Deimus was sitting there, watching her. None of them made a sound or motion for what seemed like ages.

"I see you've found your way back to your friends," he said suddenly. His voice was low, but it penetrated through the heavy silence as if he were yelling. Kana stiffened. Deimus stood up slowly, rolling his head to one side, cracking his neck. He grinned at her, and once more his fangs flickered in the near-darkness. "Are you sure you are doing the right thing by being here?" He made his way closer and closer to her, and she could do nothing but sit there, half-awake, half-asleep, yet frightened out of her mind.

"What…what do you mean?" she asked, her tongue feeling like a ball of cotton in her mouth. Her throat was dry and her voice came out cracked. He chuckled, either at the question or just how pitiful she sounded.

"You're not being very smart, dear," he said, his tone listless and bored. He reached out a slender pale hand towards her. His expression and voice turned dark suddenly as he spoke again. "You're only putting off the inevitable. You belong to me, and only me. When will you finally understand?" His wolf ears flicked backwards. He was getting impatient. A snarl passed his lips as his former mood melted away. Kana's eyes widened, still finding herself unable to move.

"Do you wish to know what will happen, should you refuse me?" He asked, his hand resting gently on her cheek. A shiver passed down her spine at his touch. His eyes held her own. "Do you want to know what you will end up doing to your friends?" Deimus gave a small smile, and his hand dropped back to his side. He leaned forward, his other hand touching her forehead. She gasped inadvertently as visions poured through her mind.

Yusuke was standing, his clothing torn and dirty, various wounds covered his body. He was breathing heavily, trying to keep his fighting stance. Kana could see that he was weak; his legs were going to give out any minute and God knows what would happen then.

Kuwabara lay on the ground, his eyes closed, injured badly. His breathing was shallow, and for a moment she thought he was dead. Hiei was there as well, half-cloaked in the shadows. His sword was cracked and lay uselessly at his side. But nothing could prepare her for the next…

She screamed as the next vision came, more horrifying than the others she had just seen. Everything stopped then. Deimus removed his hand, watching her closely.

"Keep your distance. It won't end pretty. You don't want your friends to get hurt, do you? Stay away. Keep your distance. It will be your fault."

He left the room shortly after that, disappearing through the open window. She could only stare numbly after him, the words and visions he had left her with shaking her to the core. She hugged her arms around her body, feeling cold. Tears filled her eyes as she felt a horrible, plunging sensation of utter despair.

But then suddenly _he_ was there. She hadn't even seen him come into the room. He stood before her, watching her. She met his eyes, and he understood. Wordlessly he slipped into the bed with her, encasing her with his arms.

"I heard you scream."

She actually had. She closed her eyes, nodding silently. "He came."

"I know."

Kana buried her face into his chest, trying to rid herself of the image of her friends weak and dying. "It's going to be my fault," she said, her voice cracking. "I don't want it to happen, I really don't…"

"Shh," he murmured, trying to calm her. "Everything's fine, don't worry."

"No, it's not!" she cried suddenly. "I know what will happen if I don't do as he says. And I don't want to see you hurt…"

"No one's going to be hurt," he said softly, "there's nothing to worry about." He held her gently. "Nothing is your fault."

It's funny how a familiar scent can calm your darkest fears, your sudden scares. She didn't want these images in her head; she didn't want to see Deimus. She didn't want anything at the moment.

"Don't leave me, Kurama."

That one request, sounding so small and childish, was the only thing she needed right now. He sighed, pulling the covers over them.

"I won't. I promise."

* * *

Kana cracked one eye open, recoiling from the bright sunlight that streamed through the window, seeming too bright for her right now. She groaned, turning over on her side, hitting something. She blinked, rubbing her eyes. And suddenly her mouth dropped. 

What the hell was Kurama doing in the bed?

She paled, trying not to freak out. What…_what on bloody earth happened_?

"What time is it?" the seemingly-lifeless body spoke, his voice husky with sleep. Kana looked around frantically, trying to distract herself.

"It's…uh…I mean, I…" she stumbled over her words, looking for a clock. Okay, Kana, she told herself, this is no time to freak out. "Um…I…whoa!" she cried, spotting a clock and seeing the time. "Ten o' clock!" To her, it was a pretty late time, seeing as how this past week she's only gotten a mere couple of hours of sleep, and she had went to bed yesterday at…what? Seven or eight o'clock?

The bedcovers rustled as Kurama sat up, blinking slowly. His hair looked even more unruly than it usually was. He looked at her, and she realized she had been staring. She quickly averted her gaze, flustered.

"I…um…" Kana ruffled her hair, thinking hard. He chuckled.

"Good morning," he said softly. Kana could only nod lamely. "You're confused, aren't you?"

"Very."

"There's nothing to worry about," he reassured her. "You asked me to stay with you, and I did."

Oh. So _that's_ how he got there. Kana suddenly felt very relieved, and she flopped back onto the bed, her head hitting the pillow with a soft thump. She remembered everything all of a sudden. She threw the covers over her head. Deimus was here, leaving her with strange words and heartbreaking images.

Kurama slowly drew back the covers, revealing her face. She blinked up at him, and he smiled, making her blush furiously.

"Forever strange," he said, shaking his head as he got up out of the bed. Kana shot up, looking at him indignantly.

"What was that?" she said accusingly. He shrugged.

"What was what?" he asked innocently.

Kana pointed a finger at him. "What you just said."

Again, he shrugged. "I said nothing," he said with a small smile, and left the room. Kana growled, falling back onto the mattress.

* * *

"Kana! It's you! It's really you!" 

She was tackled to the ground instantly as two laughing teenagers rushed at her, shouting nonsense and exclamations.

"Hey, stop that," she said, prying herself off of Yusuke and Kuwabara. "There are other people here, you know." They looked around the outside of the movie theater, where there were a few people staring at them. Yusuke threw a few glares at them and they turned away, pretending to be busy with something else.

"We missed you!" shouted Kuwabara, lunging for her again. She ducked just in time to avoid what would have been a bone-crushing embrace. She straightened herself, a grin on her face. It really was good to see them again, after all this time.

Kurama suggested that they meet up at the movie theater and see a movie, and see everyone again. Yusuke and Kuwabara were all too eager to do so, and made plans to see a movie in the late afternoon.

"How's life with your aunt?" Yusuke asked, cocking his head to one side.

"All right," she said vaguely, not wanting to get into all the gory details at that moment. "My aunt's really nice, but my uncle's an ass."

"Let's get ourselves some tickets," Kurama interrupted, smiling. Kana was glad for it.

"Oh, yeah," Kuwabara said.

"Come on, come on," Kana said, pushing along Yusuke and Kuwabara into the movie theater.

"Hey, I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own," Yusuke retorted playfully. Kana shrugged.

"Not so sure about that," she answered, opening one of the doors and heading inside. They headed over to the line, where a few people were already there. Kana dug into her jean pockets, pulling out a few dollar bills. Kurama placed a hand on her arm, and she looked up at him, questioning.

"I've got it," he said. Kana shook her head indignantly.

"No, it's all right, you don't have to." She looked into Kurama's eyes, and something in them made her retreat. "Fine," she said, putting the bills back into her pocket, "you win. But I'm buying the popcorn. Okay?" she waited for his nod, then she turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "I'm going to get the popcorn. Don't do anything stupid."

As she headed over to the concession stand, a group of girls made their way over to Kurama. They stood in front of him, twirling their hair and giggling. He looked at them, trying to be polite, and smiled. They were wearing too much make-up, and wearing awful skin-tight clothing that showed off their all-too fake curves.

"Hi, Shuichi," one of them said.

He was speechless. He wanted to get out of there, but there was nowhere to go. He had to buy the tickets. He looked over at Yusuke and Kuwabara, but they were nowhere to be seen. Where did they go?

One of the girls stuck their arm in his face. "I wore perfume just for you, Shuichi. Do you like it?" she giggled. Kurama tried not to gag at the overwhelming scent of the cheap fragrance.

"Are you here alone?" another asked, pushing aside another girl and fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"No, I'm with--," he started, his eyes darting over to the concession stand, where Kana was receiving her change for the large popcorn. One of the girls caught his glance and sneered.

"You're here with _her?_ I thought she left."

"Who? Who are you talking about?"

"That girl over there, remember her? She used to go to our school, but then she was gone for some reason. I say, good riddance, that girl was no good."

"Oh, I remember her! What was her name? I knew it before…I must have forgotten…"

"Ugh, she was awful. Why did she come back? I don't know why you hang around her, Kurama; you could do so much better. Why don't you ditch her and hang out with us instead?"

"Didn't her father die?"

"Oh, yeah, I saw it on the news one night. They found his body in an alleyway, piss drunk. He must have killed himself or something."

"See, Kurama? You don't hang out with people like her; she's crazy in the head. She's going to end up doing something to you one day."

Kurama turned to look at the girls, and they drew back a little, surprised. "Don't talk about her that way," he said, his voice held an edge to it that made the girls back off.

"Hey, fine, whatever," one of them said, smirking. "No need to get all weird on us. We're just trying to help." They giggled together, like they had a strange joke between them, and walked off, whispering in hushed tones.

"Tah-dah!" Kana cried, presenting Kurama with a huge bag of popcorn. He couldn't help but smile. He looked at those girls, then back to Kana. She followed his gaze, and scrunched up her nose. "What was that about?"

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing," he said quickly, moving up on the line. "Where's Yusuke and Kuwabara?"

"No idea. I thought they were with you. Weren't they?"

"I thought they were, but…" he looked around, scanning the area for any signs of them. Strange. They weren't there, anywhere.

"Should I go—ah!" Kana yelped suddenly, ducking. Two figures launched themselves onto her, shouting in her ear. She broke free of them, seeing Yusuke and Kuwabara standing before the two.

"Did we scare you?" Yusuke asked, grinning from ear to ear. Kana sighed heavily, hanging her head.

"I guess we did," Kuwabara said to Yusuke, looking at Kana and her reaction.

"Mission accomplished!" Yusuke laughed, giving Kuwabara a high-five.

Kurama shook his head lightly, holding the recently-bought tickets out to them. "Let's just get into the movie," he interrupted politely.

* * *

"I say – thumbs-up." 

Yusuke looked at Kana in surprise. "Really?" he asked her as they exited the theater sometime later. Kurama nodded in agreement as well. Keiko was standing at Yusuke's side, voicing her agreement.

"I didn't like it," Kuwabara pouted. Yusuke nodded fervently with Kuwabara's statement, causing the rest of them to roll their eyes.

"First time I go to the movies with you guys, we all hate the movie and you two love it. Now, we all like the movie and you two don't," Kana pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"Do I sense a pattern here?" Keiko said.

"I believe so," Kurama agreed.

Kana looked down and patted her pants pocket – something was missing. She stopped short. Everyone else did as well, looking at her in surprise. "I left my wallet in the theater," she said sheepishly. She looked back the way they came, then back to the group.

"I'll go with you," Kurama volunteered.

"Are you sure?" Kana asked him. He nodded.

"We'll meet you outside, we won't be long," Kurama reassured them. They nodded and continued for the exit after being reassured that it was all right.

Kana and Kurama headed back into the theater they were previously in. Kana scanned the aisle they sat in, searching for her wallet. "Ah-hah!" she cried suddenly, holding up a black wallet with a heart on it. "Here it is," she said, relieved, sticking it back into her pocket. She looked back at Kurama and smiled. "We're good."

He took her hand as they exited the theater, heading into the lobby. "Thanks for coming with me," Kana said. "I--," she started, but then caught sight of someone standing in the lobby she thought she had long-forgotten. She stopped short, squeezing Kurama's hand. He stopped as well, looking at her in concern.

"What is it?" he asked her. Kana's gaze hardened. She shook her head and kept walking.

"No one. It's no one," she said, starting to walk again. "Let's get out of here." Kurama, looking puzzled, obeyed, looking over at the boy who she had seen. He stood with a group of no more than two girls, laughing. Suddenly he stopped, seeing them. He held out a hand to the girls, as if to silence them, and broke free of the crowd, heading towards Kana and Kurama.

"Kana? Is that you?" he called. Kana cursed under her breath. Kurama's grip on her hand tightened a little. He reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "Man, it's been so long, you've changed a lot, haven't you? Remember me?"

"Li," Kana responded stiffly. Kurama could tell she was getting uncomfortable.

"Good, you remember me! I was afraid you wouldn't. But then again, how could you, you know?" Li said, grinning. The two girls he was talking to headed over.

"Li, who's this?" one of them said, looking over Kana.

"My old girlfriend," he said proudly.

"Don't call me that," Kana said edgily. Li made a clucking noise with his tongue, shaking his head. "I was never your 'girlfriend'."

"Aww, come on, babe, don't say that. What we had was special."

"We had nothing," she said. "Come on, Kurama, let's go. They're waiting for us outside." She tugged at his sleeve impatiently, giving Li a dirty look. Kurama stood, looking at Li.

"Why are you leaving? I just got here," Li interrupted, grasping her shoulder to pull her back.

"She said she wanted to leave," Kurama stated simply, looking at Li darkly. He looked back at him as if seeing him for the first time. He raised his hands in the air and whistled.

"Hey, man, no worries," he said, shaking his head. He turned to Kana. "Who's this, eh? Your new boyfriend?" He looked him over with a sneer. Kurama said nothing, still holding on to Kana's hand, the other stuffed in his pocket. He looked at him with an eerie calmness around him.

"Kurama, forget it, let's leave. Ignore him," Kana pleaded, not looking at Li's face.

"Leave? Ignore?" Li cocked his head to one side, placing his hands on his hips. "Now, where have I heard that before, huh?" His gaze turned dark and he reached for Kana again. "I still haven't forgiven you for that. Man, you nearly broke my heart. I couldn't believe it."

Kana angrily shoved him away. Kurama let go of her hand and placed it out to Li. He paused, then scoffed.

"What, you want to fight me or something?" he said, holding out his hands as if beckoning him. "You don't scare me, and Kana isn't yours. So back off. She was with me last year. Not you."

"Li!" Kana said sharply, her eyes widening. She looked at Kurama, who stood, still looking calm.

A moment passed as Li and Kurama stood facing each other, not saying a word. Li looked cocky, then almost afraid, as if he saw something he wasn't supposed to see. He stumbled backwards, one of the girls earlier holding his arm for support.

"Wh-what the hell are you?" he spluttered, his dark brown eyes wide. He wiped at his mouth, his eyes darting back and forth from Kana to Kurama. "You-you're not human. How did you do that…?"

Kana looked at Kurama anxiously. What had he done to Li? She opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. Li walked away with his two friends, looking back every now and then and muttering something, his eyes widened and frenzied-looking. She turned her attention back to Kurama, who still wasn't facing her.

**Don't do that again. You could have ruined everything.**

_I wanted to have a little fun, Shuichi. You can't blame me, can you? Anyways, you got what you wanted. He's gone. You can thank me later._

"Kurama?" she asked tentatively, reaching out a hand to him, as if to touch his shoulder. "Kurama, what did…" the question died on her lips as soon as he turned around, looking at her blankly, as if not really seeing anything at all. He looked serious.

"They're waiting for us," he said simply, managing a smile. He started to head for the theater exit, and Kana, not knowing what else to do, followed, looking at Li once more before heading outside.

* * *

"What took you guys so long?" Yusuke asked, stretching his arms as he clicked his seatbelt in. Kurama stuck the key into the ignition and started up the car. Kana, in the front passenger seat, looked back at the three of them. 

"We had a little delay," Kurama said, checking the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove away. Yusuke and Keiko exchanged looks.

The sun was just beginning to set as Kurama made his way finally back to his house with Kana, having dropped off Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara already. Kana shifted in her seat, looking out the window, feeling an awkward silence fill the car. She cleared her throat, ready to speak. She watched the sky turn a mix of orange and red, and felt oddly calm.

"Look," she said, smiling, pointing out the window to the sunset, "its pretty, isn't it?" She looked at Kurama, looking for a response. She sighed.

"Kurama—about Li—what he said was all lies. I mean, I don't have any interest in him, and we were never an item or however you want to say it. I just--," she looked for the proper word as he parked the car in the driveway. He shifted in his seat to look at her. She looked up at him helplessly, Deimus's words starting to echo in her head:

_Keep your distance. _

Kurama reached out a hand and placed it on her cheek, leaning in closer to her so that their faces were only inches apart. Kana held her breath, watching him, her heart racing.

_It will be your fault._

He closed the gap between them, bringing his lips to hers in a soft kiss. Kana thought her heart was going to burst; it was beating so hard and so fast. His hand rested on her cheek. A few seconds passed before he finally pulled away, looking at her.

_It will be your fault._

* * *


	21. Chapter 21

Hello, my loves! I'm back again; are you surprised?

I'm just so sorry this chapter took two months to put up.  
There was so many things going on since we last talked -  
Finals, drama (not the acting kind, mind you), and tests and just one thing on top of another.  
I couldn't get time to type! And then, once school let out (thank God) and finals were over,  
The thought of updating seemed to far away. I had pushed it into the back of my mind for the longest time.  
And when I got to the computer, sat in the chair, and began to, my hands just wouldn't listen. For lousy couple of weeks I couldn't type a single word. A really bad case of writer's block? Maybe. All I know is that it was really frustrating. I felt so bad for all of you. When I made myself type, however, all I could get out were a few pathetic sentences. It was terrible.

But, here we are! Aren't you all happy? I know I am, to finally have this chapter up.  
Although I do think a few things fell a little flat - namely, the arguement between Kana & Kurama. I think I could've done it a littleb

I hope to get the next chapter up before Aug. 14th, when I leave for two weeks. (I'm going away to a sleepaway camp! Whoo!)  
If I don't though, please don't kill me.

**Thanks to those amazing kids who reviewed Chapter 20:  
**Foxlover, Celedeen Tachibana, Katana Blade, Ayumi, crimson moonlight and bloody rain, Runalesca, Hiruke, Rose Kitsuna, xxDream Theaterxx (Manda!), ravenfeather42, Mizuki-chan, Golden Vixen, Gure, xXxTDAxXx, Madhatterness, Meibou, MikoHatome, RyokoOfTheDarknessRising,Mary, keia mizuki, AND Koji Shikage!

THAT'S OVER 20 PEOPLE!  
And there were so many newface who never reviewed before!  
You all made me so happy! You haveabsolutely no idea. I can't thank you all enough.  
Keep it up:)

I hope to see you guys soon!

* * *

Chapter 21 

Kurama opened the door and headed into the house. He went up the stairs to his bedroom, his mind unable to stop spinning, playing back the kiss over and over in his mind. What he had just done… was it wise? Was it a smart decision? He thought of the silence in the car after their lips met, the look in her eyes. She didn't fight it – but there was something there, something in her face, her expression, that made him think she was frightened. But why? Youko, strangely, was quiet. He never interfered at all in his mind thus far, which to him was odd. He shut the door softly with a click and sat on his bed, looking out the window. Outside night had just settled in, the sunset they had seen in the car had slipped away probably minutes ago.

He sighed, his fingers tracing his bottom lip, remembering the kiss. It was foolish, even dangerous. It was _not_ a smart choice. How will things go now? How can he ever look at her the same way? One thing he was definitely sure of –

Things will never be the same.

No, not now.

Not ever.

-

Kana sat in the car, her heart racing, her mind unable to comprehend what had just taken place. She sat in the car seat, still not able to move even after Kurama had left to go inside. Briefly her fingers grazed her lips, remembering all at once the warmth she had felt a few minutes ago. When they pulled apart, all she could see was him the way Deimus had shown her, bloody and battered because of her. She thought she would be able to push him away before it was too late. Now, everything seemed shot to hell. She couldn't deny her feelings as much as she could try. Neither could he, apparently. This had complicated things, though for better or worse, she couldn't tell right now.

She looked out at the distance, at the spot where the sun was seen setting not long ago. Her vision blurred for a moment before she rubbed any traces of tears from her eyes. Why would she cry? This moment was something she had been waiting forever for. And yet…

_It will be your fault. _

Her hands were shaking as she reached for the car door, letting herself out. She stumbled blindly up the sidewalk to the front door, allowing herself in. She felt as if her blood has turned to ice in her veins. Why did she feel this way? Why did she feel that what had just happened was completely, utterly, wrong?

She headed up the stairs, noting sadly that Kurama's door was shut. He probably wants nothing to do with me, she thought absently. Well, that makes sense. She had let her desires give in, and she probably endangered them both. What if Deimus was somehow watching? What if he knew that... that...

Oh God. He knew, didn't he? He knew that she liked, no, maybe even _loved _- Kurama. He was playing games with her, again. That's why he knew the vision he gave her would work so effectively. She ran her hands through her black hair, biting her bottom lip as she reached for the doorknob to Kurama's room. She could explain herself. Tell him it was a mistake. Don't let him get his hopes up. Its better that she let him down now - keep him safe. Right?

She stared at the door, willing herself to move, to open the door. Everything could be solved, right here, right now. It could. So why was she hesitating? With haste, she turned away, heading for her own room. She cursed herself silently, knowing the reason and hating herself for it. She was scared. She didn't want to know that perhaps Kurama thought it was a mistake. What if she opened that door and he turned away? What if he told her to leave? She couldn't bear that.

She shut the door behind her, a little more forcefully than she had meant to. Once inside, she slumped down, bringing her knees to her chest, hugging herself tightly. What if she destroyed everything? How could she face him now?

She shut her eyes hard, not wanting to believe such thoughts, when suddenly her wrist heated up. She blinked, astonished, as the bracelet Kuga had given her grew scorching hot. She shook her wrist, flinching at the sudden heat. She tried to take it off, but there was no clasp. How had he put it on her? There wasn't a clasp or anything, and it fit her tightly. She couldn't pull it off if she tried.

It stopped. Kana blinked, staring at the bracelet. What had just happened? She poked the bracelet, but it was cool to the touch all over again. A shadow suddenly shot out from the corner of her eye, and she swiveled her head to see what it was. Silence. There was nothing here, nothing at all. Had she just imagined everything? No. A look down at the red mark the bracelet left on her wrist was proof of that. Maybe she should just get out of here. She stood up, turning to face the door, one hand on the doorknob, when she heard a rustling sound. Her eyes shut hard, willing herself to open the door and leave. This was too much; she was losing it. But still, she turned, and her eyes instantly went to the shadowed corner of the quickly darkening room. Someone _was _there. Her heart instantly felt with dread even before she saw the glitter of those amethyst eyes. She gasped inadvertently, not breaking eye contact, while her hands frantically grasped at the door behind her, looking for the doorknob.

That was when she noticed something was different.

The darkness offered little to help her see him well. But she did see that his wolf ears were flattened backwards against his head, his hair looking matted and dirty. He was hurt, that much she could tell. Where the injuries were and how serious they were, she didn't know. His robe covered most of his body, but his pale arms were visible in the moonlight and she saw the dark rivulets of blood running down them. But that wasn't what seemed to bother him. He was watching _her, _with no sign that his wounds bothered him at all. His face betrayed his emotions – sadness? Regret? No.

Longing.

Her brow furrowed, hands resting on the doorknob. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. When she opened them again, he was gone.

-

"Ice skating?"

Yusuke bobbed his head. "I think it's weird. But we got tickets – enough for everyone."

Kana blinked, thinking. She stood in the front door, probably a little past lunchtime. Still no sign of Kurama yet – his door was still shut, which made her a little unsettled. His mother said not to worry, although she can tell she's a little confused herself. She hasn't mentioned anything about Deimus's visit the other night, and she didn't see the need to bring it up. There's enough strange things going on; there's no need to add unnecessary elements to the pot to make it worse. And anyways, he seemed to be the helpless one this time; she didn't think he really came there to hurt her. But then, if not… then what did he come for? And what was with her bracelet? She looked down at her wrist, the red ring still visible, the bracelet refusing to come off, no matter how hard she tugged and pulled.

"…Kana?" Yusuke was waving a hand in her face, and she realized that he had been talking the entire time. She felt her face heat up with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry; I'm zoning. What did you say again?" she said, averting his gaze for a moment. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I said we should go today. Do something different."

A grin played across her face. "Your mom said that, didn't she?"

His face fell. "How'd you know?"

"I can tell," she shrugged, "parents usually say things like that anyways." However, she did nod her head. "I'm up for it, though."

"And Kurama?" He must have seen her wince or make a face, for his voice dropped to a lower tone as he looked at her. "Is everything okay with you guys?"

Kana nodded, trying to reassure him. "Everything's fine." Judging by the lengthy stare he gave her, he wasn't entirely convinced. "He's in his room. Been there all day so far, actually."

"Huh." Yusuke cocked his head to one side, as if thinking. "Weird. That's not like him at all." He straightened. "Well, pass him the message, will ya? If everyone's ready, we can leave as soon as--," he stopped, raising his eyebrows. There was a pause. "_Or, _I can go up and tell him."

Kana sighed. "Thanks, Yusuke." She stepped aside to let him enter the house. Shiori was in the kitchen, cooking. Seeing Yusuke coming in, she waved and called out a greeting. He returned it as politely as he could, heading up the stairs to Kurama's room. Kana stayed where she was, watching Yusuke head down the hallway and out of sight. She headed into the kitchen to Shiori, who smiled at her brightly. God, she had no idea.

A few minutes must have passed before she saw Yusuke head down the stairs, Kurama following closely behind. She tried not to look at him, but it was a useless effort. She flicked her gaze up to the stairs, and for a brief second she and Kurama's eyes locked. His face remained blank. Kana quickly dropped her eyes to the floor, feeling breathless. It was her first time seeing him after... last night. She blushed furiously and looked around the house, pretending to be distracted. Yusuke, however, seemed oblivious of everything. He smiled and clapped Kana's shoulder before turning around to face Kurama, who gave a small nod. What were they talking about? Kana wondered.

"I'll drive," he said, in the same old voice he always used. There was nothing different about him as he headed into the kitchen to talk to his mother about the day's plans. There were soft murmurs, earnest and kind, before Kurama emerged from the kitchen. He held up the keys in his hand, flashing briefly before he tucked them into the pocket of his jeans.

Yusuke seemed pleased with himself as he stepped into stride with Kurama. Kana followed behind slowly, feeling extremely self-conscious. He unlocked the car doors and allowed himself in. Kana and Yusuke sat in the backseat. Yusuke shot her a look, as if wondering why she wasn't up in the front with Kurama, like she usually was. She shook her head, not wanting to get into it. As Kurama started the engine, Yusuke piped up, "We got to get Kuwabara. Keiko and Yukina will be meeting us there." Kana's head turned at the mention of Yukina's name. "Oh, you've never met her yet, have you, Kana? I'll have to introduce you. Kuwabara's got this thing for her; just watch. It's hilarious to see the things he does to get her attention."

-

The rink was cold. But that seemed pretty obvious. Kana laced up her skates tightly, listening to the others talk. Keiko and Yukina weren't here, as far as she could tell. Kuwabara fell into the spot on the bench beside her.

"What's up with you, Kana?" he asked, keeping his voice low. She turned slightly to look at him, and there must have been a strange look on her face, for he continued, "I have no idea. You just seem quiet today. So does Kurama. I mean, he always keeps things to himself, but now it's pretty weird. Did something happen between you two or something?"

"No." Kana said, her voice sounding louder than she expected. Kuwabara drew back slightly, and she sighed. "Sorry, Kuwabara." He shrugged at her apology, getting up, his legs wobbling a little from the skates. They haven't even made it to the rink yet, and somehow she already knew that Kuwabara was going to have a hard time.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I guess I shouldn't have asked--whoa!" he cried out, his arms flapping around in all directions as he tried not to fall over. He fell against the wall, breathing hard. "Okay. Skating is _not _fun. I don't think I should do this. I'm probably going to kill myself."

"You're not going to skate, Kazuma-chan?"

A pretty voice made Kana pause tying her other skate and looked up. A girl stood before Kuwabara, smiling. Her skin was pale, her red eyes standing out against her complexion. Her hair, a strange combination of either a light green or blue, was plaited neatly in one long braid. Kuwabara suddenly turned a bright red.

"Uh, well, I--," he started, stumbling over his words. "Did I say that? I didn't mean to. I love to skate. Do you like to skate, Yukina?" he babbled on endlessly, and Kana felt bad for him. So this was Yukina, she thought. Yusuke was right about him acting strange around her. She got up and headed over to them, walking awkwardly because of her skates.

"Kuwabara skates," she nodded, putting a hand on his shoulder. Kuwabara stared at her, obviously glad to save him from his growing humiliation. Yukina's eyes widened.

"Oh, you must be Kana!" she exclaimed, her voice light and airy. "Keiko and Botan told me about you. It's so nice to meet you finally." She gave a small bow, and Kana felt embarrassed. She saw Keiko talking with Yusuke, who was with Kurama. As if he knew she was watching his eyes lifted to meet hers. She managed a small smile; as if to prove to him (and herself) that she was fine and wasn't bothered at all by the night's previous events. A total lie, obviously. She turned her attention back to Yukina before she could see Kurama's reaction.

"You too," she answered warmly, feeling strangely calm around this girl. Kuwabara's mouth hung open between the two of them, no idea what to do or say. The sight was extremely comical, and Kana found herself cracking up. Yukina did as well, seeing just what Kana was laughing about.

"Wh-what's so funny?" Kuwabara cried, but suddenly losing his balance and flailing his arms around to keep from falling over. This, however, didn't stop the laughter. They burst out laughing once more, causing Yusuke and Keiko to look at them strangely.

"Come on," Keiko said cheerfully, heading over to them, "let's head out to the rink now."

* * *

"No fair, Kana! How come you're so good at it?" Yusuke complained, watching Kana try skating. He himself was clinging to the wall, Keiko skating alongside Kana, giggling at his attempts.

Kana just shrugged, smiling. "I've never done this before," she confided.

"Liar," Kuwabara responded, in worse shape than Yusuke, if that was even possible. He tried to look like he knew what he was doing, for the sake of Yukina mostly, but it didn't work at all. He cried out and fell backwards on the ice. Yukina skated over to him, reaching out a hand. Blushing furiously, he shook his head and tried to get up on his own. He failed miserably. Kana giggled with Keiko, watching the scene with amusement. After a few more moments, they turned and skated around the rink, enjoying themselves profusely. For the moment Kana forgot about her troubles with Kurama, about the threat from Deimus. Everything seemed to melt away the more her breath left her in small puffs. It was chilly. She was grateful the sweatshirt she chose to wear.

By now Yusuke seemed to have gotten the hang of it; he skated over to the two of them with little problem. He grinned, proud of himself. Keiko smiled back at him, and took his arm. With a backwards glance and laugh to Kana, she skated away with him. She didn't feel left out at all. Instead, she watched them almost jealously. She continued to skate, lost in her thoughts again, still grinning a little. She swept her gaze across the rink and spotted Kurama leaning against the wall, talking to... Hiei? Kana had to admit, she was surprised. But he was there, a scowl plastered onto his face as he kept his eye on Kuwabara and Yukina. He wore no skates, but he positioned himself up on the wall. Someone who worked there came up to tap him on the shoulder, probably to tell him that what he was doing wasn't allowed, but a glare shot at the woman had her skittering away. At that, she shook her head.

"Fair maiden? Is that you?"

Kana turned on the ice, coming face-to-face with Kuga. He was just as strangely decked out as ever, looking more like a j-rocker than anything. A bright yellow and green striped scarf dangled around his neck, a thick leather jacket shielding him from the cold of the ice. His pants were covered with chains and studs, but none of this fazed her. By now, she was pretty used to it. How odd to see him here, she thought. "I thought I told you not to call me that," she said amusedly. Kuga shook his head, holding up his hands as it to say, 'not my fault'. He laughed, until he saw her wrist. His face quickly sobered. He gently took her hand, inspecting the bracelet.

"You're still wearing it," he said, his voice laced with awe and confusion.

Kana looked at her hand in his, suddenly aware that Kurama was now watching them. She pulled away. "Yeah," she said, "I can't get it off, though." She decided against telling him about how it heated up, causing that red ring. It may just make her sound crazy. Well, maybe not. "Hey--," she started, but Kuga had taken her hand and started skating, and to save herself from embarrassment by falling, she skated to keep up with him.

"Kana!" Yusuke called out, looking at her and Kuga with a questioning look on her face.

"Yusuke," she started, skating to a halt. Kuga followed, looking at Yusuke. "This is Kuga, a friend of mine." If he noticed how she put the extra emphasis on the word 'friend', he didn't seem to notice. Kuga appeared to be lost in thought, still staring at Yusuke. He looked oddly serious. Kana looked at him and elbowed him in the ribs. He blinked, coming back to reality.

He took Yusuke's hand, shaking it emphatically. "Nice to meet you!" he said cheerfully. Keiko was looking at him with her mouth agape. She must be in shock at his appearance, Kana realized. Yusuke held a similar expression, but it vanished when he managed to smile back at him and nod. "You must be the friends fair maiden--I mean, Kana," he said, looking at her with a sheepish gaze, "was talking about." Kana stopped at these words, wondering if she had ever mentioned them to him before. Well, she must have, she figured, discarding the thought.

She could feel Kurama's eyes on her, making her uncomfortable about everything all of a sudden. He was nearby now; no more than a few feet away. Hiei wasn't looking at her, though. He was still watching Kuwabara, glaring, his arms crossed. Kurama blinked, and Kana met his eyes. For a moment, it was as if she couldn't move. Her heart beat fast. He smiled at her, and it felt as if she had been punched in the gut. She stared at him incredulously. The smile... it... was different. Normally it was warm and full of emotion, kind as his soul. But... that one was fake. Forced. No emotion. Just... flat. She quickly looked away, willing the feeling to go away.

Suddenly two people skated up beside her and Kuga, one girl and one guy, just as intricately dressed as he was. The girl had a lip ring, her black-and-red-streaked hair matching the rest of her outfit - plaid skirt, netted stockings, and a red tank top with a black hoodie thrown over it. The guy was a bit more normal, with black short spiked hair and jeans. Kuga looked at them, smiling.

"Come on, Kuga, let's go," the girl said, her voice sounding almost monotonous, "this place is crawling with little kids." She looked out at the rink, and Kana saw that a bunch of kids had begun skating, one of them wearing a birthday hat. All of them were screaming and shouting, an adult trying to calm them down. It must be a birthday party, Kana figured. The girl shivered.

"Oh, all right," he said glumly. The girl and the guy headed for the exit, and Kuga turned back to them. "Bye! It was nice to see you!" he turned to Kana, adding, "See you when break's over, yeah?" Kana could barely manage a nod. When he left, both Keiko and Yusuke turned their shocked stare onto her. She could do nothing but shrug.

"I have no idea," she said helplessly, holding up her hands in exasperation.

* * *

The next two days passed before she knew it. But things have been different - way different. And Kana wasn't sure that she was used to this change. Namely, the change in _Kurama. _Ever since that day at the ice rink, when he gave her that weird smile, he's been drifting further and further way from her. It's weird to see him act this way, and it's been bothering her. She couldn't help but feel that it was her fault for his behavior; ever since they kissed he hasn't been himself. But it seems that ever since they all went ice skating it's gotten bad. What's worse, no one else seems to notice this. Sure, he acts nice and talks to her (barely more than a few sentences when he really needs to), but it's not the same – the warmth and familiarity is gone, replaced with something fake and forced just like his smiles now.

To make everything worse, the bracelet has been acting up again – more and more often. She'd never tell anyone, but she'd wake up in the middle of the night to the intense, searing pain the bracelet's heat gave. Her wrist was becoming more and more damaged by it.

After another day of enduring Kurama's behavior, Kana decided she'd had enough. After heading upstairs to her room after (yet another) awkward dinner, she saw Kurama's closed door. She sighed, feeling her spirits sink. Instead of heading into her room, though, she marched right over to his. She inhaled deeply, calming her nerves, which at this point where going crazy. Her knees felt like jelly all of a sudden, and right then she had her second thoughts. Maybe she should just forget it…

_No. _

Kana turned back to his door, and knocked. Her heart beat faster and faster. She could hear him walking closer and closer…

The door opened, and Kana hadn't expected it to. It took a moment for her to get her bearings again. Kurama said nothing, standing still looking calm as ever.

"What's with you?" she asked, unable to stand it anymore. Kurama blinked, as if what she was saying was not what he expected in the least.

"Excuse me?" he asked, his voice soft and calm… just like always… It took Kana a moment to register his exact words in her head. She stepped into his room, watching as Kurama shut the door silently behind her. He turned to face her.

"Ever since that night, you've been avoiding me." It wasn't an accusation, it was a statement. She paused, but he said nothing. Flustered with so much to say, she continued: "I know… maybe that you think it was a mistake. Wrong. Maybe you didn't even enjoy it that much. But you can't just act like it didn't happen! And then… you're distancing yourself from me, and I just don't know what to do," she said, taking a deep breath to keep the tears from falling. She never felt so silly in her entire life. But she wouldn't let that stop her now. "It may not have meant anything to you, but it did to me. I can't stand this anymore, Kurama! It isn't fair." She was pacing now, walking back and forth quickly in circles. Kurama stood watching her, his face impassive and strangely blank. "I mean, I don't know if there's anything I can do to fix this, but you can't just—"

"Kana."

"—what if something else like this happens? Are you going to just keep avoiding me forever?" She wrung her hands. "I can't live like this, this is just completely insane. I think _I'm_ insane, now, I have no idea what I'm saying—"

"Kana."

"I don't want you to leave me alone, Kurama. I don't want you to keep going on _hating_ me like this…"

"_Kana_."

Finally, she stopped and looked into his eyes, still hesitant.

"You think I'm doing this because I _hate _you?" he asked, his voice sounding hurt. Kana looked away from him as he stepped closer.

She stepped further away from him, not willing to give in. He treated her like crap for the past few days, there's no way a few sentences will make up for that. Kurama dropped his hands loosely to his sides, as if defeated. "I don't know what to think anymore," Kana responded quietly, feeling tired and weak all of a sudden. Tears filled her eyes. This was _not_ the way it was supposed to end up.

As she closed her eyes slowly, arms encircled her, wrapped protectively around her body. She should push away, she shouldn't let him… but she just couldn't. No more. This has gone on long enough. She exhaled slowly, tears burning the back of her eyes, but never falling.

"It's the opposite," he whispered, his chin resting on the top of her head. "The truth, Kana, is far different."

There was a pause, and Kana could swear she had forgotten to breathe.

"I care for you. I care for you so deeply in such a way that I've never felt before," he said, his voice just loud enough for her to hear. The words struck her, and she drew in a sharp breath, disbelieving. "I don't want to lose you," he said earnestly, "not now, not ever."

Kana didn't know how to respond. Her heart couldn't stop its frenzied beating. There was a moment of a silence between them that seemed to last forever. Finally, Kurama released her, turning away and heading towards his window slowly. Kana could only stand there staring at him.

"I understand if you don't feel the same," he said slowly, "but this is something I've had on my mind for a while. I thought it would be best if I let it out now." He still didn't turn to face her. Why couldn't she say anything? Why was she just _standing_ there? "I'm sorry, Kana."

Why was he apologizing? Her mind was screaming at her, at _him_, for everything. Her heart was telling her everything she needed to say, but she couldn't just open her mouth and say them. For a moment she stood there, a single tear escaping her eye and falling down her cheek. She barely noticed. The only thing she knew at the moment was how deeply, utterly, _foolish_ she is being right now. And she hated herself for it.

The next thing they both heard was a knock at the door. The noise itself scared her; she jumped, startled by the noise breaking through the endless silence.

"Shuichi? Kana?" It was Shiori.

Kana opened the door slowly. Shiori stood there, looking worried. "What's wrong?" she asked quickly, completely unused to seeing her look like this.

"Your aunt's on the phone, and she needs to talk to you," she said, "she says it's an emergency."

Kana nodded and left the room, taking the steps two at a time, instantly fearing the worst. She picked up the phone on the counter. "Hello?" she said cautiously.

"Kana!" her aunt's relieved voice filled her ear. "Kana, I'm so sorry to call you like this, I mean I know you're away and everything but--,"

"What's wrong?" Kana interrupted sharply, her mind trying to comprehend everything that's happening.

"Something terrible has happened; you need to come back."

"What happened?" she asked, gripping the phone tightly.

There were frantic whispers and mumbles from the other end before her aunt spoke again. "I can't talk now; he can hear me," she whispered.

"Who? What's going on?"

"Kana, just get over here, please," she said, her voice desperate and pleading. Suddenly there was a shout, a scream, and the line went dead.

"Aunt Suoh! What's going on? Hello? Hello?" she shouted, feeling as if an ice ball just dropped into the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

She hung up the phone with shaking hands, looking around as if trying to figure out what to do. Kurama appeared at the doorway, and it was as if everything that happened between them moments ago disappeared. He saw the look on her face and instantly snapped into action. "What happened?"

Kana could barely answer. The blood drained out of her face. She headed to the door, grabbing her jacket and slipping on her shoes as if in a trance. "Back. I need to go back," she repeated, over and over. "Something's wrong. I need to get back."

"Okay," he replied calmly, "we'll go." He grabbed his keys and yanked on a jacket, throwing open the door and stepping outside. Without hesitating, she followed him, her mind running through all the horrible possibilities of what could have happened. She sat in the front seat of the car as Kurama drove, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. Kana could only stare blank ahead, her nerves screaming that something wasn't right.

-

After what seemed like an eternity, the car slowed to a stop in front of the house. Kana stared at it anxiously, but everything seemed fine. It looked the same as ever. But she couldn't shake off this weird feeling. She unclipped her seatbelt and scrambled to open the car door. She headed around the other side to Kurama's window. He gently rolled it down.

"Wait here. I won't be long," she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. Damn, it was cold. Why was it cold? It was spring for crying out loud.

Kurama had unclipped his seatbelt as well, and after a moment, he nodded slowly. "Any more than five minutes and I'm coming in after you," he warned. In spite of herself, Kana smiled.

"You've got it," she said, giving him a thumbs-up, trying to prove to him that she was fine and not the wreck she was right now. She turned and headed up the sidewalk, walking a little faster than necessary. As she reached the door, she paused for a moment as her hand rested on the doorknob. She turned it quietly, hearing it click and open slowly. It was unlocked; how odd. Normally her aunt locked it all the time at this hour.

The house seemed empty. Kana stepped in cautiously, feeling immediately that she really shouldn't be here at all. Her bracelet heated up again, but not as bad as it had been before. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She gritted her teeth, walking forward.

"Hello?" she called out softly. How strange. It was as if no one was here.

Suddenly she heard noises – jumbled, indistinct words and sounds that she couldn't make out. It was coming from the den, she realized. As she walked further, her senses were suddenly on high-alert. The TV was on. She stopped in the doorway. Ayamu was sitting there on the couch, facing the TV. She let out a sigh of relief. The channels changed constantly, as if she were having trouble deciding on a show to watch. They never stopped changing. They kept switching, on and on. In the sudden eerie silence of the house, it unnerved her. All she could see was the back of Ayamu's head.

"Ayamu," she said, unable to keep the relief out of her voice as she headed closer. "Ayamu, you'll never believe—," she reached out and touched her cousin's shoulder, and her head lolled to one side.

That's when she saw it.

Her throat was brutally gouged out and ripped open, the blood seeping everywhere – down her shirt, the couch, her arms, _everywhere. _Her eyes stared blank ahead, glassy. She was dead. Kana clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle her scream as she backed away from her, seeing nothing but the blood. It was everywhere… blood was everywhere… She couldn't stop herself from screaming. The blood was everywhere. Everywhere. Everywhere. No… no… This was a dream.

The TV stopped changing. It turned off. Kana jerked her head back, staring at the black of the screen, seeing Ayamu's reflection, as well as her own. But… wait a minute… there was someone else. She looked up to the sound of chuckling.

Her mouth dropped open. Her uncle stood in the corner, holding the remote in his hands. As he smiled, it dropped to the floor with nothing more than a dull thud. Her heart leapt into her throat, looking for a way to get out of here.

"How perfect," her uncle said, a grin spreading across his face, "just the one I'm looking for." In his hands, Kana could see the glint of a knife – already bloodied with Ayamu's blood. She felt a surge of anger.

"How could you kill her like that?" she shouted. Haru ignored her, moving closer, slinking forward like a big cat stalking its prey.

"Be still, and make this easy," he growled, his voice threatening and cold. She stopped in her tracks at his words, but recovered herself quickly. She ran.

Behind her, she could hear her Haru's angry shouts and curses as he took off after her. She skidded into the kitchen, throwing open the utensil drawer that it fell onto the floor, scattering the silverware everywhere. She knelt on the floor, frantically scrabbling for something to use. Her hands wrapped around a steak knife, and she started to get up. A foot crushed the fingers holding the knife, and she cried out in pain, instantly letting go. Haru leered down on her, the knife in his hands poised and ready to strike. He shook his head at her.

"Tsk, tsk," he chided, "you know better than that," his tone sounding as if he were an adult scolding their child for doing something wrong. The look in his eyes, the rage and anger, told her that he meant nothing of the sort. She scrambled to get away, tearing her eyes away from his at the last moment so she could get up and run.

He laughed. "You should know better than that," he called out after her, his footsteps sounding impossibly close.

Kana found it hard to breathe all of a sudden. She was terrified. Where could she go? Her eyes desperately sought out somewhere to go. Suddenly he was standing before her, and Kana screamed and ran the other way, back into the den where Ayamu's body was. She tripped and fell near the couch. All of a sudden she knew – that was what he needed. He held the knife to her throat, grinning.

"Be a good girl and sit still," he said softly, his eyes holding a strange insane glare that had never been there before. Her bracelet was now on fire, she bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain.

"Enough of that," a voice commanded from somewhere behind them. Haru turned and giggled with delight. For some reason, he looked even more excited now. Kana craned her neck to see who it was, but the voice had sent chills down her spine. She knew who it was.

Haru dropped the knife to one side, the blood leaving a few stains on the carpet. Kana sat in fear, unable to do anything. He grabbed the wrist that wasn't burning and yanked her to her feet. "I got her, see?" he said, his voice holding an almost childlike delight. Kana found herself face to face with Deimus.

He smiled at her, moving to her. A hand gently cupped under her chin, lifting her face to meet his. She closed her eyes and turned away. Deimus, however, seemed not to notice this. He dropped his hand and looked at Haru. "If I hadn't interfered, however, you would have killed her."

"Well—I—" Haru searched for an excuse, anything. Deimus held up a palm and he instantly quieted. Kana, however, could not move. She tried, oh, how she tried, but her limbs refused to respond.

Deimus smiled wickedly at her. Kana felt a sinking despair. She sagged. There was no hope for her now. _Kurama…_

There was pain in her cheek as he slapped her suddenly, snarling. "No more of that bastard, do you hear me?" he said, no more than a hair's breadth away from her own face. She refused to meet his gaze. "Answer me!" he roared.

"Um…" Haru's voice interrupted. Deimus whirled on him, angry.

"What is it now?" he demanded.

"Well… the payment…" he said, shrinking away. Deimus paused, then chuckled. "Remember… you promised…"

"I did, didn't I?" he said, obviously playing with Haru now. "If I remember correctly, you _failed_. She made it to her god-forsaken friends anyhow." He spat the last words with disgust. Haru nodded quickly.

"Well, yes, but… I found her. Without me, you wouldn't have gotten her."

Deimus revealed his fangs to Haru, and he balked. "Don't talk back to me!" he growled, now getting impatient. "Your wife is alive; I think that's payment enough." He looked over at Ayamu and nodded. "Good job at that," he praised off-handedly.

"But—" Haru started forward. "You said you'd make me just like you, eternal life! You gave me your word."

Deimus's hand lashed out and grabbed Haru by the throat. "You should know better than to trust a wolf's words," he whispered into his ear. Haru was shaking now. Kana watched it all with wide eyes, frightened out of her mind. If only she could move…

He dropped Haru to the floor. As he scrambled to his feet, Deimus looked back at Kana and grinned. Her stomach twisted into a huge knot as he unsheathed his sword. Without further hesitation, he took that sword and plunged it straight through Haru's heart.

Kana would have screamed, but her throat wouldn't let her. No sound escaped her throat as the blood poured from the wound. Haru stared blankly ahead, slumping forward. Deimus yanked the sword gracefully from his body, the blood now spilling onto the carpet. He wiped the blade clean with a cloth, smiling. The body dropped to the floor beside his feet. In disgust, he kicked it away.

"Tch. He spoiled my robe," he said, looking down at the blood that had spilled onto the bottom of his cape-like clothing.

He turned to Kana, his eyes suddenly hungry...

-

Kurama couldn't take it anymore. Where was she? It had to be past five minutes now. He opened the door to the car and headed up the walkway, his heart suddenly racing.

_Shuichi, get in there _now, _something's not right. _

**I know. **

_Let me take over. _

**No! **

He opened the door to the house, ignoring Youko. He heard a scream. That was definitely Kana's, he knew that. He raced towards the source of the sound.

"How nice to see you," Deimus grinned at him. The body of Kana's uncle lay a few inches away from his feet. He could see that a young girl's body was on the couch – dead, he knew – the smell of blood assaulted his nostrils. Kurama's heart seemed to stop then – Kana was held in his arms, struggling now. She reached out a hand.

"Kurama!" she screamed frantically at the top of her lungs. A pale hand closed over her mouth.

"We'll be going now," he said, still grinning. Kurama lunged toward them, anger rising up within him, but it was too late.

They were gone.


	22. Chapter 22

All right, I'm back...

With a new penname!  
And an all-new chapter for you guys.

Sorry about the four month hiatus.  
-bows over and over again-

This chapter contains the f-word... a lot.  
I have no idea why. I think I might've gone overboard a little.  
And there is a bit of OOCness too, in my opinion.  
I don't know what you guys think...  
But then again, Kana's now gone, so things are all out of sorts with the Tantei.  
Arghh.

This chapter was written while consuming large amounts of green tea and Mentos.  
I don't know why I was eating Mentos, I really don't like them, but I'm sitting staring at an empty box right now.  
So, I blame the Mentos... for everything.

Let's hope the next update comes up soon! -crosses fingers-

Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing!  
And thanks for not forgetting about this little story here...  
I know it's been long and all... Hehe.

* * *

Chapter 22

"Kana!"

The voice seemed to echo, as if she were standing in an empty room. That was impossible – there were so many people cramped into this place, their faces looking blurry to her; unable to recognize. They seemed to move like shadows all around her, swaying to the beat of the music, just barely audible to her ears. The voice that called her sounded familiar, yet so out of place. She clenched a cup into her hand, taking a sip of the punch someone had given her. It tasted… off. There was a strange tang to it, leaving an odd taste in her throat, but she drank it anyways. She moved through the crowd, amazed at how the blurry shadows seemed to move away to clear a path. There was someone there, standing, looking more into focus than the rest. The girl waved her arms around excitedly.

"See? I told you we should've come here," she said, nudging her with her elbow. "Aren't you glad I dragged you?"

"I don't know, Hotaru…" she looked around. "We stand out, don't we?"

An older male sidled past her, and for some reason Kana could not see his eyes. But he smiled at them both, and Hotaru shot her a look. "Are you kidding?" She grabbed her arm. "Come on, let's get some more punch."

She led her through the crowd, but suddenly she was gone. Kana stopped, stared at the people around her. Someone came close to her ear.

"Hi," he breathed, and Kana turned. There stood a male, no more than two years older than her, with dark brown eyes and hair that fell into his eyes a little. She backed away a little. "Want to dance?"

Kana shook her head, giving him a forced smile. "No thanks," she said, side-stepping away from him, craning her neck over the crowd, looking for Hotaru, who suddenly disappeared. Where'd she go?

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked, coming up behind her.

"I'm fine; I don't need your help," she said through gritted teeth, all though deep down inside she got this strange sinking feeling. Where was Hotaru? Why won't this guy leave? She blinked hard, everything falling out of focus. She looked down at the empty cup in her hand accusingly.

"Had a little too much punch?" he joked, holding her shoulder so she wouldn't fall over. Kana straightened herself, giving him a dirty look.

"No, I'm fine," she protested. Wait a second – was there a _slur _in her words? She couldn't be drunk. Naw. Definitely not.

The guy laughed. "Doesn't look like it. You're drunk, definitely." He took her hand. "Come on, babe, let's go look for your friend."

"Hotaru?" Kana blinked. The guy nodded.

"That's her name? Well, sure," he said, drawing her through the crowd. Kana stumbled after him, barely keeping up. Everything was echoing and spinning. This was too weird. It looked as if no one was here at all, as if it were just him and her…

"I'm Li, by the way," he said, looking over his shoulder and giving her a bright smile. Kana smiled back. He seemed nice enough. He could help her find Hotaru, and then they could leave. Crashing a high school party was pretty dumb anyways; she told Hotaru she didn't want to go.

He led her up the stairs, where the music faded away and the crowd of people disappeared. He opened up a room. Kana stopped.

"Hotaru's in there?" she asked. Li bobbed his head. She nodded. "Okay," she said, nearly falling into the darkened room. "Hotaru?" she called out, walking around, her hands outstretched like a blind man. "Hotaru, are you hiding?" she giggled, then stopped for a moment as everything spun again.

The door shut. Kana heard a click. She turned around. "Li?"

No answer.

Suddenly, someone thrust her to the floor. She could barely let out a yelp as rough hands covered her mouth. "Don't scream," Li said soothingly into her ear, "it's just me." His voice was deep, husky now. His breathing was fast and quick. She heard him fumbling with his jeans. Wait. What the hell was he doing?

"I don't feel so good," Kana said, trying to push him off. He was too strong.

"Shh, its okay, you're just a little sleepy," he said distractedly as his lips grazed her cheek, then her neck.

"No!" Kana yelled, trying to push him off again, this time with more force. She bit his hand and he cursed, off-guard for a moment. She scrambled to get away but he was there again, on top of her. Kana found herself crying. "No, no, please…"

The door opened. Li cursed, jumping up off of her. "I thought I had the door locked," he half-whispered. Kana blinked, looking at the shadow in the doorway. She couldn't make out any face; but she knew who it was.

Wait a minute; this isn't how it happened at all.

"Kurama," she said, smiling. He stepped into the room, reaching down for Kana's hand. She took it, wiping at the tears on her face.

And suddenly, Li was gone. The room was gone. There was no party at all. She stood in a bedroom, staring straight at Deimus, who smiled at her, his arms bleeding profusely. He held Kurama in his hands, limp and bloody. She tried to scream, but no sound would come out… He dropped Kurama to the ground and smiled sweetly, holding out bleeding arms to her…

That disappeared too. Suddenly she was outside, looking down at a grave, placing flowers. She could barely make out the name on the headstone – Hotaru Kuriyama. She was crying; the tears blurring her vision. What was going on? This happened a little over a year ago. Why was she watching it happen all over again?

A hand gently touched her shoulder. Aki. Her fourteen-year-old self turned and sobbed hysterically into his arms, mourning the death of her best friend. And now, she was watching this all over again, as if it was playing on a television and she couldn't change the channels.

-

A thumb gently wiped away a tear forming at the corner of her eye. Kana groaned, turning over in her sleep. Her eyes blinked open. The pillow was stained with her tears. Her cheeks felt stiff, tears having dried on them. She flipped over on her back, closing her eyes, ignoring everything. Wait a second. Her eyes opened, and stared at a ceiling that was definitely unfamiliar. She sat up quickly, throwing back the sheets and looking around the room. Where the hell was she? What was going on?

The room itself made her feel like she had stepped back in time. The walls were a rich deep red, everything about it giving off a Renaissance-style essence. She looked down at the bed she was in. The quilt was heavy and thick, very comfortable, with gold and white designs intricately weaving in and out. She looked up and noticed that gold silk fabric draped over the canopy to create a dream-like feel.

A sound brought her back to reality. She jerked her head towards the door and saw Deimus standing there, watching her. Her heart dropped as yesterday came back to her. Her uncle, Ayamu… they're dead now.

"I was wondering when you would awaken," he said, watching her with steady eyes. It unnerved her.

"What am I doing here?" she asked, all at once wanting to get off the bed, but at the same time not wanting to bring herself any closer to him.

He chuckled. "This is where you belong," he said, stepping into the room. "Does it not look familiar to you?" Kana paused, but it didn't matter. He kept talking. "Don't answer now, I suppose, it should come back to you later."

Deimus took off his long leather jacket and tossed it onto the floor, opening up a door that led to a closet. Kana saw his bare arms and leaned forward a little to get a better look. Sure enough, there were scars there, on both arms. They looked ragged and painful. _Just like in her dream…_

"How did you get those?" she asked suddenly. Deimus turned quickly, staring hard at her. A shadow passed across his face, his features darkened. The sudden change in emotion made her regret asking.

"An accident," he replied, his voice low and level, but there was something in his tone that made her wonder if she really _should_ know what had happened – but that was ridiculous.

In an attempt to change the subject, Kana asked again, "Where am I?"

"Makai."

A chill ran down her spine as she heard that word. Yusuke and the others have mentioned it before – it was the Demon World. A sudden shot of panic coursed through her, making her feel as if her blood suddenly turned ice-cold. Despite herself, she shivered. Deimus saw this, and chuckled once more.

"So you know what the Makai is," he said, more to himself than to her. He smiled, and straightened himself, tossing on his black robe again, covering his scars. He turned to her, walking with a smooth cat-like grace to the bed. Kana stiffened, turning her head away as he reached out a hand for her. His eyes narrowed to slits.

"And still you refuse me," he said softly, but Kana could hear the underlying anger in his voice. A growl passed his lips and he stalked towards the door. He looked back at her, and Kana met his gaze. "It's because of him, isn't it? Your little redhead." Kana's eyes flew open wide; her heart skipping a beat as Kurama's face swam into her mind. He said he cared for her; but after what had happened in his room he probably hated her now. If only she had spoken up…but no. She was too afraid to actually say what she felt. And now, she may never get the chance.

"If you hurt him—" Kana started, barely more than a whisper. She managed a glare, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. "If you hurt any of them—"

Deimus barked a laugh, so sudden she stopped short. "You think that the redhead _loves_ you." He paused, letting the words sink in. She wouldn't let him get to her; Kurama had told her himself; he wouldn't have been lying. "He was using you," he continued, his voice velvety smooth, "did you really think that someone like you would be worthy of love from someone like him? Did you think that someone who comes from such a broken home, with a broken life such as you would ever be able to become truly happy?" His head cocked to one side, looking at her with an expression of pity. His eyes closed for a moment and he shook his head. "I am sorry to be the one telling you this, dear. All of them are _happy_ to be rid of you. You were such a burden to them, always dragging them down." He must have seen the tortured expression on her face, for he walked forward again, taking her face in his hands. His eyes softened as he wiped away the tears – when had she started crying? - that were now running down her face silently as his words hit home.

"_But not me, dear_," he whispered. "You and I were meant for each other. I saved you from them, from any further pain. You should be thanking me." A hand ran through her hair, brushing it away from her face. She started to shake, and he murmured calming words into her ears. "I know it hurts. Forget them. They weren't good enough for you anyways." Kana looked into his eyes, searching for a sign, any sign at all that meant his words were lies. Her heart sank slowly as she felt herself sinking into those eyes of amethyst. "Don't forget what I've shown you." With that, he pulled away from her, heading towards the door to leave and Kana heard the sharp _click_ of the lock as the door shut behind him.

The words he said to her were unable to stop repeating in her ears. She didn't want to believe them, but they all made sense somehow. Fear coursed through her as tears sprang into her eyes. She collapsed onto the bed again, crying hysterically as his words ripped her from the inside out. "No," she repeated over and over, burying her face into the pillow, until it sounded like a tortured mantra.

-

"We don't even know what we're looking for," Yusuke cried in desperation. "She could be anywhere."

"But where would _he_ take her?" Kuwabara interjected impatiently. He hung his head low, sighing. "Who knows how long it'll be before we find her. This should never have happened."

Kurama stiffened, hearing those words. He clenched Kana's bracelet in his hands all the more tighter. Kuwabara looked at him.

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that," he said, trying to apologize. "I just meant—"

"He knows." Hiei's voice cut him off, colder than usual. Kurama looked away, out at the open window. "He knows better than all of us." He shifted his position in the corner of the room, closing his eyes. His headband was off, revealing his third eye, the Jagan. It flared with a greenish light.

"Hiei, you've tried that already. The Jagaan can't sense her," Yusuke said dejectedly.

"Who said I was looking for her?" Hiei snapped. "Now shut up."

For a few moments, everything went silent. Hiei growled impatiently suddenly, covering up the Jagaan again. His crimson eyes opened slowly. "I tried to search for a trace of _his_ power. Nothing."

Kurama snapped. Suddenly sitting here, doing nothing, going nowhere, while Kana was out there somewhere in Deimus's grasp was too much. His fist slammed into the table, making everyone jump in surprise. He refused eye contact, the bracelet cutting into his palms.

"Kurama," Yusuke started softly, "we're doing the best we can."

All eyes were on him now. "It's not enough." His palm opened, and the bracelet fell onto the tabletop. There were red imprints on his hand.

"That's Kana's," Kuwabara realized, leaning forward in his seat to get a better look. Hiei made no movement, but he was suddenly very interested in what lay on the table.

"It must have fallen when…" Kurama trailed off there, pausing only for a moment. "It was given to her by the one we saw at the rink the other day."

"Do you think it could help us?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama nodded slowly. "I think it connected her to Deimus, so he could find out where she was at all times."

"Like a tracking device?" Kuwabara squinted at the bracelet; its silver chain sparkled with the light.

"So what we need to do now," Hiei spoke up suddenly, "is to find whoever it was who gave the bracelet to her."

"He must be in with Deimus too," Yusuke thought aloud. "I think his name was Kuga. Where do we start looking? There's a million places we could try, but I don't think any of them will work."

"We'll start locally, and then elsewhere. He can't hide for too long. We'll find him eventually." Kuwabara nodded.

"We'll split up. Hiei, go with Kurama. I'll go with you, Kuwabara." Yusuke nodded at each of them respectively. His gaze lingered on Kurama. "We'll find her," his voice dropped to a soft whisper. "We will, I promise you."

Kurama could only nod barely, meeting his gaze for the first time. Yusuke was unable to keep the shock off his face as he saw the raw emotions that spun behind his emerald eyes. He's taking this hard, he realized.

Kurama seemed not to notice. He got up. "Let's go," his voice lost all the warmth and normal emotion. It was empty, dull, and emotionless.

We need to find her, and soon, Yusuke thought as he watched Kurama, otherwise who knows what will happen.

-

Hiei followed Kurama out of the house, studying him. He walked quickly, heading for his car. The keys jangled in his hands, almost nervously. He's taking this _way_ too personally. And he didn't blame him, but still... this behavior was unnerving him.

"Kurama." He called out, stopping and crossing his arms. Slowly he turned, looking at him but with a strange expression he has never seen on him before... impatience. This damn fox was getting impatient. With _him_.

"Damn it, just calm down." He said crossly, getting annoyed. "We're going to find her, but not if you keep acting like this." He paused, letting his words sink in. "Do you even have any idea where we can look for this kid?"

Kurama sighed, then turned around again to get to the car. He used the keys to unlock the driver's side. "I know, Hiei," he said softly, his back to the youkai. "I know this won't solve anything, but I feel so...guilty. I should've gone in with her; I shouldn't have waited in the car like that. It's my--"

"It's not your fault," he snapped. "Don't even say that. If you keep placing the blame on yourself, nothing will get done." He sighed, looking out into the distance. "We all are going to help look for her. We're going to find her, Kurama, we will."

"I'm sorry," he said, opening the door and sitting in the driver's seat. Hiei walked around the other side and sat in the passenger's seat behind him.

"Don't be," he said roughly, looking out the window of the car. Kurama placed his hands on the steering wheel, thinking.

"We'll start at those hang-spots. The movies, the arcade, even a restaurant or something. If he's still in the area, chances are he'll be at one of those places." He leaned over and put the car into ignition, checking the mirror as he pulled out and headed out onto the road.

-

Within minutes they were out of the car and walking up to the movie theater entrance. They walked inside, looking around for the eccentrically-dressed silver-haired teen they'd seen at the rink. At this time of day, it was packed up with kids from school and their friends. He exchanged glances with a few he recognized but kept walking, scanning the crowds. Hiei walked behind him, glaring at anyone who would give him weird stares.

They had just been here a few days ago, with Kana. It seemed so far away now. Kurama paused to reflect on that day, smiling a little. The smile was lost completely when he remembered that she wasn't here anymore. She was now in Deimus's hands, and it was his fault.

He kept looking, but there were no one in the lobby that even remotely looked like Kuga. He was about to tell Hiei to leave, when someone pushed him roughly to the side.

"Looking for me, huh?" an arrogant voice, male, shouted at him. Kurama turned slowly, almost calmly to face whoever it was that had shoved him.

Li.

"What the hell do you want?" Hiei asked, obviously getting pissed. Li started to answer him, but Kurama looked at him sharply.

"Hiei, stay out of this." In response, the demon crossed his arms, looking the other way in annoyance. Li turned his attention back to Kurama, and grinned.

"You think you're so tough, don't you? You think you can have my girl." It seems he forgot what had happened the last time they met - it ended with Li running off in fear, because he had nearly lost control and Youko almost took over. It wouldn't be good to face him now. He had more important things to do. He had to find Kana.

"I apologize; I have somewhere to go," he said, turning around and heading for the exit. Hiei followed suit, ignoring Li's angry yells. Without turning around Kurama knew he was following. He opened the door and let himself out, heading for his car, blatantly ignoring him.

"Running away? Funny. You thought you were so tough last time. I thought you were asking for a fight."

Kurama stopped for a fraction of a second before picking up the pace again. In a way, he had. He had challenged Li in an almost primal-way, asking him if he were tough enough to claim Kana from him. Only if it had really had happened, Li wouldn't be standing here right now, talking to him like he was better than him. He had won that battle – technically - but he should've known Li would have come back for more, to fix his bruised ego.

"So tell me, how is she?" he shouted. "She was a good fuck that night. You should've seen her; totally drunk out of her mind. So have you two done it yet? How--"

Within seconds Kurama had Li up against the wall, with a look so menacing it made him tremble. Li spluttered, trying to draw a breath, but his arm was held across his throat, making it impossible. He looked at Kurama desperately, clutching at his neck.

"One more word and you're done." One statement, filled with so much anger and rage that Li stopped squirming altogether and paled immediately. He gasped for breath, trying to get away, his eyes wide with fear.

"Hey, hey, I was only kidding, you know I—" he coughed, gripping Kurama's hands as if to try to pry them off of his neck, his face rapidly turning a shade of purple. Li stopped, finally looking Kurama in the eyes, fear etched all over his face. "What the fuck are you?" he whispered hoarsely. "Those eyes—those eyes—they're not fucking normal, they're not--!" he started to struggle wildly, his breath coming in short, wheezing gasps. Hiei ran towards them both.

"Kurama, let go! Let go, now!" Hiei shouted, grabbing Kurama's hands. The fox looked at him sharply, and for a moment, Hiei faltered. This was not Kurama. The look in his eyes were feral, his emerald eyes gone, replaced instead with golden ones. He was on the edge of transforming here and now, and that was not good. "Kurama, damn it! Listen to me! Not here, not now!" His crimson eyes met Kurama's with defiance, and watched as their color slowly melted away, back to their green flare. He let go of Li, letting him drop to the sidewalk, staring at him as if he hadn't ever noticed him before.

"Hiei…" he looked at his friend, eyes slightly widened, as if shocked by what he had just done.

Li coughed, getting up slowly. "You…" he wheezed, his voice sounding cracked and hoarse. He rubbed his neck. "What are you?" He looked frightened out of his mind, scrambling to his feet but finding it hard to. "Stay the fuck away from me; you're crazy, fucking crazy…" His breath came in and out slowly, as if learning to breathe all over again.

"Now you know not to fuck with him," Hiei glared at Li fiercely. "Get out of here before I let him go at you again."

Li let out a wordless cry, getting up and running from the two of them before any further words could be spoken. Kurama watched him go, and Hiei was surprised to see him paler than usual.

"Kuga's not here. Let's go," he said, calmly prodding him towards the car. He followed, but slowly. Hiei turned to look at him. "You were defending Kana. You almost let Youko take over. It's done now. We'll think about it later. Right now we have a job to do. _Don't lose your head_. You have to keep calm. You'll do no good this way."

Kurama paused, then nodded, taking the keys out of his pocket. "You're right, Hiei." He let out a sigh. "I don't know what's happening to me. Each time Youko comes closer and closer to taking over. One day I won't be able to hold him back, and then…" His eyes closed then, stopping his sentence short. For a moment there was a heavy silence before Kurama finally opened them again and let himself into the driver's seat.

-

No more than a few minutes had passed before Kurama parked in the parking lot of the arcade. He looked up at the place, lights from the games flashing through the open door. Inside he could hear the excited shrieks of younger children, and the occasional deep growl from an older teen who didn't reach the highest score. Hiei's lips curled when he saw where they were.

"We've got nothing to lose looking here," he said, scolding the youkai gently. "Come on, let's go look." He got out of the car and headed up to the entrance. He remembered the day they all gathered here… and this was the place where he first met Kana as well. Quite painfully, he remembered, feeling embarrassed as he recalled opening the door and hitting Kana to the floor.

They both walked into the building, already blown away by the lights and sounds. A pair of shrieking kids ran by, and Kurama had to stop short to keep himself from running into them. Beside him, Hiei was already sneering; he absolutely hated this place. But he didn't say any words of insult of anger. Instead, he kept quiet, looking for any signs of the strange boy that had given Kana that bracelet. Each loud noise they heard, each loud blast of gunshots from a game they passed by had started to play on their nerves.

After walking through the entire place, their search was seemingly unsuccessful. Kurama looked over to Hiei, who gave a small nod. Kuga wasn't here. Slowly they began making their way towards the exit. Once outside, the commotion found inside of the arcade had dissipated slowly. Kurama turned his head sharply to the left, hearing voices.

He suddenly stopped, holding an arm out to direct Hiei to do the same. He looked at the fox quizzically, but snapped into action, his senses on high alert. His crimson eyes scanned the lot quickly. Kurama tapped him and pointed with his eyes to two figures standing on the side of the arcade, huddled together and talking fast.

"What do they have to do with us?" Hiei asked, skeptical.

"I remember those two. They're friends of Kuga's. Remember?" Kurama whispered to Hiei, his eyes never leaving the two figures. He slowly nodded, his memory sinking in. Kurama reached into his pocket and dug out his cell phone, flipping it open and punching in a few numbers. He paused before handing it to Hiei. He looked down at the contraption with mild confusion. "I called Yusuke. Tell him to get here. I'm going to talk to them." He walked forward, leaving Hiei with his ear pressed awkwardly to the cell phone.

"Kuga isn't back yet… his mission is completed, however. He gave that damn girl that bracelet. Why does he need to go to the Makai?" The girl whispered fiercely.

The older male snorted at her remarks. "'Cause the master favors him. He sucks up to him and kisses his ass, and he listens. Damn him. Now we're stuck here to watch over this place… for what?" He kicked a rock on the sidewalk. "It's a waste of time, I'm telling you. We should just leave."

"No!" she shouted, and immediately lowered her voice, realizing she had spoken too loud. "Think of what _he'll _do to us. We can never abandon our duties." She suddenly looked up, straight at Kurama, and drew back. "You! What are you doing listening to us?" The male turned and looked at him, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Your master?" he said calmly, stepping closer to them, his hands in his pockets. "Do you mean Deimus?"

Both stopped cold when they heard the name. The female recovered first. "How do you know that name?" she asked harshly. "You have no business here."

Hiei stepped up beside Kurama, putting the phone into his pocket. He nodded once, to tell him that Yusuke was on his way. He knew that without speaking words.

"Where is Kuga?" Kurama asked, ignoring their response.

The male's eyes shifted nervously. He jammed his hands into his pockets. "Who?"

Hiei beside him rolled his eyes, obviously becoming impatient. Kurama had to admit, he was feeling the same. This pointless banter was getting them no closer to reaching Kana.

"We know about your 'mission'. Where is Kuga?" He asked, his voice ever-calm, never changing. "Where has Deimus taken Kana?"

There was a soft patter of footsteps on the pavement behind them. Yusuke and Kuwabara arrived; Kurama knew without even turning around. They stood silently behind him and Hiei, trying to process what was going on.

"I'm afraid we can't help you. We don't know what you're talking about." The male grinned cockily, and Kurama could tell that if they weren't careful, he _was _willing to fight them. There was no telling how strong he could be.

Kurama ignored him and took out Kana's bracelet, the one that Kuga had given to her. He dangled it in front of them, the silver link catching the sun and giving off a slight sparkle. Their eyes both widened, and inside Kurama smiled. He had them now.

"Hunter, they _know_," the female tugged on the male's arm.

The one called Hunter gave her a sharp look. "They don't know anything. They're a bunch of losers who don't know shit--,"

He didn't finish his sentence, for Hiei suddenly launched himself forward to Hunter, the cold steel of his katana pressed up against his throat. He froze wary eyes on the crimson-eyed demon. Hiei shoved him harshly up against the wall, eyes flashing with anger.

"Oh great, now you've pissed him off," Yusuke sighed, placing his hands on his head.

"Tell us where she is," Hiei said, his voice dripping with disdain, teeth bared. Kurama had seen him angry before, giving out threats, but never like this. He could almost say he was… emotionally involved, somehow. This thought registered surprise – he has never shown any interest in Kana whatsoever; if anything, he disliked her, or so he had originally thought. But watching him now, he knew that was untrue. Hiei never showed this much malice for someone he cared nothing about. Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged glances with each other; apparently they were thinking the exact same thing.

"Hunter!" the female cried, drawing knives from her wrists. Yusuke held out his arms and clasped his hands together, ready to use his Spirit Gun. The familiar blue glow radiated from his fingertips, and she stopped, surprised.

"Move another inch, and you're dead meat," Yusuke said, eyes narrowed.

"Damn it, we can't do this here," Kuwabara muttered, looking around the parking lot for any signs of people. For now, it was empty. "Someone could see us…" Kurama nodded in agreement, one hand poised near his head, ready to draw the seed that would create his Rose Whip. There wasn't much they could do about it, however.

The female hadn't moved an inch, her eyes giving away the fear she now felt. "Spirit Gun…" she whispered, recognizing his signature move. "You're Yusuke Urameshi," she continued, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked at the rest of them, paling. "The Reikai Tantei." She turned her head slightly to look at her companion, still pinned by Hiei. "Hunter, we can't fuck around with them. Deimus warned us about them."

"We're not telling them _shit_, Pip," he retorted from where he was, "we have _orders_."

Hiei pressed the katana's blade closer to his throat, nicking his skin just a little. A single drop of blood ran onto the steel, and Pip broke.

"Makai. They're in the motherfucking Makai; the master took her to the Threshold in the Demon City. Kuga's there too." She swallowed, talking rapidly. "I don't know what he wants with her; I don't even know why Kuga's there. We were sent here to watch this town, and now we know why – to keep _you_ from leaving. I don't know any more, that's all I can tell you."

Kurama's eyes shut hard, his worst fears realized. He struggled to hold his calm façade, but it was difficult. Kana was taken into the Makai. The one place he had never, ever hoped she would see. This was all _his_ fault. Who knows what Deimus was doing with her there. They had to act fast and get there as quickly as possible. Inside Youko was fighting for control, and it took all his strength and concentration at bay.

**Not now, **he said firmly to him. Youko's rage at losing his "mate" made him difficult to handle.

Hiei paused a moment, his blade still at Hunter's throat. With a growl, he let go, leaping backwards and sheathing his katana at the same time. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked pale, realizing the extent of the danger Kana was facing.

"_Damn it_," Yusuke shouted, his face tilted up towards the sky. He looked pissed as he dropped his arms to is side, Spirit Gun now forgotten. "Damn it, damn it, damn it, _damn it_!"

They turned and stalked away from Hunter and Pip swiftly, forgetting all about them as their new mission emerged: they needed to find Kana.

"You know what this means," Kuwabara started, as they opened Kurama's car door and got inside.

"We need to kick some wolf demon ass, and get Kana back," Yusuke finished as Kurama revved up the engine.

"But first," Kurama said, focusing on the road that stretched before them, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly, "we need to talk to Koenma. He will be our link to the Makai."


End file.
